2. Can Filip Zadina break out this year?
Is 2020-21 the year that Filip Zadina finally breaks out and takes the National Hockey League by storm?
General Manager Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings will be hoping that is indeed the case.
Zadina was the No. 6 overall pick by the Red Wings in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft and he certainly came into the league with a lot of hype and fanfare.
However, he played just nine games in 2018-19 with three points (1 G, 2 A), while he recorded 15 points (8 G, 7 A) in 28 games in 2019-20 with a plus / minus rating of -13.
The naturally-talented right-winger has shown flashes of his high-end ability for Detroit but has failed to really put it all together when it really matters.
But, Zadina impressed throughout Training Camp and putting the talent on a line with perhaps Robby Fabbri and veteran Bobby Ryan could help to bring the best out of the stud.
After all, Fabbri has proven to be a revelation in Hockeytown and has arguably been of GM Steve Yzerman’s best acquisitions so far with 31 points (14 G, 17 A) in 52 games for Detroit in 2019-20, while Ryan is exactly the ideal type of role model you would want for a young player in Zadina.
There is no doubt that key to the Detroit Red Wings being more competitive in 2020-21 is to find some secondary scoring after they ranked 31st in Goals For Per Game (2.00) last year, and Filip Zadina carving out a breakout campaign and proving why he was taken so high two years ago is key to that.