There have been many questions if Zakhar Bardakov fits in the NHL or not. When the Colorado Avalanche signed him after a trade with the New Jersey Devils, the bar for him was high. So far this season for Bardakov, that may not be the case. With the demotion to the Colorado Eagles on Tuesday morning, is the Bardakov experiment over? Or has it just begun?

When Bardakov came over from Russia to play for Colorado, fans expected a star center but felt disappointed. What they got was a hard-hitting forward who does not score a ton of points. His career high in the KHL was just 17 goals in 53 games last season. He has become better known for his penalty-killing capabilities than anything else.

With the Avalanche, Bardakov has been playing fourth-line minutes and playing on the penalty kill. He has been struggling to top over seven or eight of ice time per game. Thus, his statistics have suffered. The Russian has only one goal to his credit along with seven assists. There was an interview that surfaced saying that he was unhappy with the amount of playing time he was getting (he felt he deserved more).


If you compare him to Gavin Brindley, another rookie who started on the fourth line, Brindley has five goals and six assists in just as many games. The American has also worked his way up to as high as the first line for some games. They both play a very rough game, just Brindley is doing something with it.

There is one example of when the Avalanche sent a player down to the AHL and it sparked them. In January 2019, the Avalanche sent Tyson Jost down to the Colorado Eagles for eight games. While with the Eagles, he scored four goals and one assist, raising his confidence and playing more ice time than he would with the Avs. Colorado recalled him, and he had four points in as many games. Will the reassignment do the same for Bardakov? Will it help him regain his confidence? After this week’s two games, we will have to see if he stays with the Eagles. But if the Avalanche want to have room for Joel Kiviranta when he returns, they will have to decide and do it fast.