In North America, they are very fond of composing various top 10. And in almost all such lists there are hockey players from Russia. Unfortunately, our compatriots fall into specific ratings.

Big contract

28-year-old Ivan Zaporov has played as part of Columbus since 2023. In the last “regular game”, Zaporov played all 82 matches and scored 33 points (7+26). Interestingly, Blue Jacks included among the eight worst teams in the league in the number of goals missed (267), but Ivan, who did not miss a single game, a positive usefulness indicator – “+11”.

Ivan Zaporov / Photo: © Emilee Chinn / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

The head coach of the club Dean Evason trusts the Russian hockey player, which is expressed in the game time that the defender receives – 23 minutes 21 seconds. In the “Columbus”, according to this indicator, things are better only among another defense player – Zakhari Vereensky. It is worth noting that many stellar colleagues in Ivan are less likely to go on ice. For example, Adam Fox (23:15) from Rangers, Victor Hedman (23:05) from Tampa, Matthias Ekholm (22:12) from Edmonton.

Given the significance of Korov for Blue Jacks, it was worth expecting a hockey player to receive a new contract. At the same time, raising the salary looked like the most likely event: Ivan expired a six -year contract for $ 6.75 million, which he signed with Philadelphia in 2019.

As a result, Columbus really rewarded the Russian for the work of a long -term agreement. At the end of June, Zaporov extended the contract with Blue Jacks for seven years, which was reported by the press service of the team. The total amount is $ 59.5 million (average salary – 8.5 million per year). Many star defenders receive less Ivan: Miro Hayscanen (8.45), Kuinn Hughes (7.85), Aaron Ekblad (7.5) and others.

But the journalist of the authoritative portal The Athletic house Lushishin wrote that the Columbus was clearly mistaken, giving a similar agreement to the Russian defender. In his opinion, Kororov received one of the most overated contracts in the league, especially if you consider it in the long run.

– Zaporov is an excellent defender, but his new contract is too burdensome and too long if you take into account its current potential and probably age. Korov had all the levers of pressure, and he used them fully, immediately concluding one of the most profitable transactions in the league for players.

Proprov’s game is likely to worsen even more in the second half of the contract. The chances that he will suddenly become a full-fledged top game is small. The Columbus had a lot of free space under the ceiling of salaries, but there were not so many options to replace Korov.

From this point of view, it is clear why Blue Jacks did what, in their opinion, it was necessary – but this still does not make the deal more acceptable, – wrote Lushishin.

The journalist believes that in recent years, Zaporov is stomping on the spot. He no longer shows the aggression that he issued in Philadelphia. The analyst also indicates that with a high probability the level of the Russian game will decline every year, and the contract will be a big problem for the club.

Interestingly, only Zaporov got into the ten of Russians in the top ten. And this is what the three of the worst league contracts according to The Athletic:

1. Jonathan Yuberdo (“Calgary Flamz”), 6 years with a capchite of $ 10.5 million;

2. Ivan Zaporov (Columbus Blue Jackets), 8 years old with capchitis $ 8.5 million;

3. Chandler Stevenson (Seattle Kraken), 6 years with a capchit of 6.3 million dollars;

As for Korov, he can only be congratulated on the fact that he was able to knock out a solid agreement. So that the management of the Columbus is not accused of missing, Ivan will have to prove that he is really important for the club system and is able to play at the first pair for most of the contract. The best way not to get into such lists is to pull out the “Blue Jacks” into the playoffs and help the team go there.