Nikita Zadorov received his arms on his Boston Bruins jersey for the primary time Monday morning.
The imposing 6-foot-6, 248-pound defenseman, who met with the media at Warrior Ice Area after signing a reported six-year, $30 million contract final week, sported a gold No. 91 on the again of his Bruins sweater, which isn’t a quantity Zadorov has been most related to all through his 11-year NHL profession.
Zadorov wore No. 16 for seven-plus seasons throughout his time with the Colorado Avalanche, Chicago Blackhawks and Calgary Flames. However that wasn’t an choice for Zadorov with the the Bruins for the reason that digits are retired for Rick Middleton.
So Zadorov ended up sticking with No. 91, which he wore throughout his stint with the Vancouver Canucks final season.
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“The other way up 16,” Zadorov advised reporters for the explanation for the quantity, per MassLive’s Matt Vautour. “I wore 16 my complete life just about on the groups I can. That’s the worst a part of taking part in on an Unique 6 staff. A number of numbers are retired. A number of historical past clearly. Once I received traded to Vancouver, we have been eager about it as a result of it was retired over there as properly. So 91 was good and it was a superb 12 months (in Vancouver) for us. So we determined to put on it right here as properly.”
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The final time a member of the Bruins wore No. 91 was over a decade in the past when Marc Savard donned it. Zadorov is aware of that historical past because it simply so occurs he has a relationship with Savard, who was an assistant coach with the Flames final season.
“I do know Marc Savard wore it. He was my coach final 12 months,” Zadorov stated. “I’ve to textual content Savvy. I stole his quantity.”
The Bruins will hope the quantity will carry the identical large-sized manufacturing out of Zadorov. The 29-year-old compiled six objectives and 14 assists for 20 factors throughout the 2023-24 marketing campaign.
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