Zherdev Clears

I said yesterday I thought Zherdev would probably be claimed, but if he wasn't, it would absolve the Flyers from criticism on their handling of Zherdev. Looks like the latter turned out.

Kind of funny how it all turned out, with some philly sportswriters let it rip on Zherdev.

Tim Panaccio;

Zherdev declines to talk. Gets in Lincoln town car and off he goes. He was smiling. Hollmgren says agent wanted Z waived

never saw a guy so happy to get waived.

My favorite Zherdev moment: He tells Holmgren he wont talk to me because "that guy is Russian mob." Homer tells him, "he's Italian."

Grinning ear-to-ear for the first time in weeks, Zherdev left the building saying “No” to interviews, hopped in a black Lincoln Town Car, and rode off into the sunset

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For more than a month, Holmgren had tried to trade Zherdev, but was unsuccessful.
“His agent and Nik obviously they’re not very happy with the situation and asked us to look around for options; nothing really came of that through trade,” Holmgren said. “We’ll see what happens with this.”

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He was a healthy scratch for six consecutive games under coach Peter Laviolette, who makes just one demand of his players: Make a consistent effort

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“It was a little bit of an experiment,” Holmgren said. “Seeing what he can do. For a period of time it was good.
“Obviously, he has 15 goals and limited power play time, limited minutes, but over the course of time here, things have eroded and Nik’s work ethic has dropped off. Right now, he’s just not fitting in.”

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Holmgren also said Zherdev didn’t “respond the right way” to being a healthy scratch.
There was no way Laviolette was going to play Zherdev again as a Flyer.

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Incidentally, though Zherdev had a driver’s license, he used a limo service to and from practices and games the entire time he was here because he did not have a car.

Frank Seravalli;

Never really seen anything like it. Zherdev bolted out the side door to avoid media and hopped in a limo and left with a smile on his face.

After clearing, it appears Zherdev will stay with the Flyers. Who knows when he will play again.