Sabres defenseman Nikita Zadorov was held out of Sunday’s shootout loss to Nashville — the second time he’s been parked due to disciplinary issues this season — and on Monday, the reason for his latest suspension was revealed:
Habitual tardiness.
[Sabres GM Tim] Murray on Zadorov: “The issue is he is not always punctual”
— WGR 550 (@WGR550) February 23, 2015
Zadorov: I was late for a meeting. 100% unacceptable. Apologized to the team. Don’t want to lose the trust of the team. #Sabres
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) February 23, 2015
This latest transgression comes just weeks after Zadorov was punished for returning late to the Sabres following All-Star weekend. The 19-year-old, who has 13 points in 42 games this year, was reportedly bumped off an oversold return flight form the Dominican Republic — where he was vacationing with his girlfriend — and while the club said his actions weren’t intentional, Zadorov still needed to be reprimanded.
“The kid did not do this purposefully, but there’s still a lesson to be learned,” Murray said at the time, per WGR Radio.
Murray delivered a harsher message to Zadorov today.
“I had a talk with Nikita this morning where I did all the talking, he didn’t talk and hopefully the problem is rectified,” he explained. “It was 10 minutes of me talking and not very politely, I told him he’s a good prospect, but he’s not getting the keys to the kingdom here and he has to be a better teammate.”