Requiring Patience | FEATURE

Zakhar Bardakov had to wait a little longer than most.
It was not only the fact he was selected in the seventh round of a draft, but he was also a 20-year-old with two years of eligibility having already passed. When it came time for the Devils to use their final pick of the
2021 NHL Draft
, the Russian forward's wait finally ended.

Perhaps one reason the 6-foot-2 forward was passed over in previous years was his extensive penalty-minute accumulation. He had 122 penalty minutes in 49 games during the 2018-19 season in the MHL. That season, he was the most penalized player in the league, a feat he followed up again in 2019-20 with 149 PIMS in 51 games.
But it is also a number that dramatically decreased this past season with Vityaz Podolsk, where he recorded just 32 in 44 games, while accumulating 11 points (8G, 3A), perhaps showing a new maturity in his game as he ages. It provided the Devils with an opportunity to take a flyer on a player with their final pick in the draft.
Listed at 198 pounds, Bardakov was selected as a member of Russia's national junior team that competed at the World Junior Championship, along with fellow Devils draft pick Shakir Mukhamadullin. There, his aggressive play, physicality, and ability to make room for himself on the ice were on full display. The Russians did not medal at the tournament, losing out in the bronze game to Finland. In the seven games he played, he scored a goal and an assist.

His lone goal gave you a flash of what he is capable of doing, out muscling an opponent and using his wrist shot to provide some offense. His penalty minutes have certainly stuck out, but there are points on the board as well, with his best season coming in during the MHL season, along with his 149 penalty minutes, when he had 15 goals and 17 assists, totaling 32 points in 51 games.
"In the KHL this season," shared Steven Ellis of The Hockey News, "Bardakov has found a way to hone his strength to his advantage and scouts especially loved his presence in the bottom six with Russia's World Junior outfit."
Take a quick look at some of his video clips and you can tell that Bardakov also has a knack for accuracy as well. His wrist shot hitting top corners in both the WJC goal and this next KHL goal are a glimpse at how he fights for his room and shoots with his accuracy.

In his first taste of the KHL game this past year, he appeared in 44 games with Vityaz's big club, scoring eight goals and three assists, enough to be a nominee for the Alexei Cherepanov Rookie of the Year Award, losing out to forward Yegor Chinakov, who went 21st overall to Columbus in the 2020 draft.
So where could Bardakov fit in an NHL lineup? Most see him as a player who could work his way into a bottom-six forward role, with his heavy frame and an ability to play on both special team units.

Bardakov is already on the ice in Russia, as the KHL season is set to begin. He's appeared in some charity games with his new SKA club, and by all accounts is continuing to round out his game.
He's a player that will require some patience to truly see how this will all pan out, but if patience to be drafted was something Bardakov waited for himself, let us extend that same diligence to figuring out his full potential.