from John Niyo of the Detroit News,

For a guy who’d felt tortured by puck luck for much of this NHL season, this probably seemed like cruel and unusual punishment.

Filip Zadina was a spectator Tuesday night, just like the rest of us, watching the Red Wings’ slumbering offense come to life. Even while shorthanded, sparked by a major penalty and aided by some minor-league goaltending as Detroit rolled to a 6-2 victory over the floundering San Jose Sharks at Little Caesars Arena.

And in a season where the Wings’ next generation of stars has shined brightly — with Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond making this NHL transition look way too easy, at times — it probably makes all this a bit harder to take for Zadina.

A healthy scratch? For the first time in his young career in Detroit?

"I guess what happens when you want to insert somebody into the lineup, you gotta take somebody out," head coach Jeff Blashill said after Tuesday’s win. " And it’s honestly sometimes as simple as that."

But it’s never quite that simple, honestly. Certainly not when you’re talking about a former sixth overall pick and a player who presumably is — or was? — supposed to be a key piece of the Wings’ next playoff puzzle. A player who, by the way, is in the final year of his rookie contract in Detroit.

continued (paid)