Russian hockey knew a lot of players who, for various reasons, could not realize their potential. One of them was Nikolai Zherdev, who, at the peak of his form, single-handedly sent NHL defenders “to the buffet”, and then gradually slipped to the level of the Italian championship. The rapid destruction of the career of the Russian striker could hardly surprise anyone, because in almost every season he got into some kind of scandal.

Even in the NHL, Zherdev was frankly weird. While his partners did everything to gain a foothold in the league, the striker paid three thousand dollars to … not go to training!

Escape to Columbus

The striker’s rebellious spirit appeared when he was just taking his first steps in big hockey. At the age of 18, Zherdev made his Super League debut for CSKA in the 2001/02 season. In the adult team, the young talent scored 24 (12 + 12) points in 44 matches and entered the top three scorers of the army team. It was obvious that at the upcoming NHL Draft, every overseas club would want to see Zherdev in their roster.

The hockey player had everything to immediately declare himself in the best league in the world: explosive speed, hockey intelligence, high performance … As a result, the Columbus drafted the Russian under the fourth number. Above him were only Marc-Andre Fleury (1), Eric Staal (2) and Nathan Horton (3).

However, Columbus could not immediately get Zherdev, because he had another year left on his contract with CSKA. Initially, the parties agreed that the striker would collect dust in the Super League for another season, overgrown with meat. However, Zherdev himself had his own view on career development.

Nikolay Zherdev / Photo: © KHL / Bezzubov Vladimir

The young player spent 20 more matches for CSKA, and then simply disappeared from the training base. It didn’t take long to look for the forward: a few days later he showed up at Columbus. Escape overseas in Moscow was rightly perceived as a betrayal by the hockey player and decided to take revenge. In CSKA, they acted according to the classical scheme: they sued, emphasizing that Zherdev was a conscript soldier and did not have the right to arbitrarily leave the location of the unit. The hockey player was threatened with a criminal case, but nothing happened. Yes, and the International Sports Court sided with the striker.

Paid off training, but still was the best

In Columbus, they saw in Zherdev a player around whom they could build a team. A promising Russian could not only consistently score points, but also did it beautifully, putting on a real show on the ice. In essence, the Blue Jackets were getting a hockey rock star, which could be a factor in attracting a new audience.

The first time it really worked. The striker in his debut season got a place in the top links of Columbus and scored 34 (13 + 21) points in 57 games. Nikolay could calmly humiliate the defenders of any team, as if he still continued to play at the youth level. Many experts predicted a great future for him in the league and superstar status in the very near future. However, Zherdev was unable to pass the copper pipes.

Nikolay Zherdev / Photo: © Star Tribune via Getty Images / Contributor / Star Tribune / Gettyimages.ru

The striker started acting weird in his second season in the NHL, and this is the most important time for the players. Zherdev, on the other hand, began to have problems with discipline. It got to the point that Columbus general manager Doug McLean hired a private detective to follow the Russian hockey player after games and practices.

“The detective was supposed to give me a report on what this guy was doing. After receiving the report, I spoke with Zherdev. After that, he sat on the bench for several games, but no one knew what was happening. Nobody,” McLean recalled.

Recently, former Columbus player Michael Rapp shared his story about Zherdev. On the Nasty Knuckles podcast, the American spoke about the attitude of the Russian to the preparatory process. When the team announced a $100 fine for missing a workout, Zherdev jumped to the wrong conclusion. The next day, he came to the gym with a translator and gave the coach a check for three thousand dollars to free himself from unnecessary stress for a whole month. Of course, everyone was shocked.

And this despite the fact that in some situations the Russian did not really want to part with the money.

– Zherdev’s English knowledge changed depending on the situation: communication went well when the team got together for a party, but could completely disappear when the bill was brought, – Rapp said.

Surprisingly, Zherdev spent his second season in the NHL “excellently”. The Russian became one of the best players on the team, scoring 54 (27+27) points in 73 matches. It seemed that this is the very ideal story with a rebel forward in the title role, which they so wanted to see in Columbus …

Alas, it soon ended. After a breakthrough season, Zherdev demanded a significant salary increase. The club bosses refused – and the Russian returned to his homeland. Then, nevertheless, it was possible to agree with the club from Ohio on a new three-year contract, but the difficult nature and inflated conceit of the hockey player led to the fact that he was exchanged to the Rangers. In New York, Zherdev started well, but soon followed the same crooked path. For Nikolai’s career in the NHL, this was the beginning of the end.