from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

“He’s done a pretty good job of understand he has to be a complete player, that the goal is to try to win the game," coach Jeff Blashill said. "You’re not going to score every shift and you’re not going to score every game, and yet you can still have a positive impact on the game.

“Filip has done a good job. Certainly he's progressed from a year ago. He's a better hockey player. He’s gaining more confidence, even in practice you could see him making plays. When you are young, you value, probably, production, and as you get older you start to realize it’s all about winning. Not that he doesn’t want to win, he totally does. But when you are young, a lot of times when you’re young you end up pressing or cheating for offense.

"He’s done a pretty good job of not doing that."

Zadina has four points (one goal) through his first 11 games. Considering Zadina played in his native Czech Republic through the autumn, while the NHL was still delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and also the positive way Zadina ended his NHL season last year before injuring his ankle, much more was expected of Zadina offensively.

read on plus more topics after the morning skate...