Zherdev shows up in Nik of time for Flyers

BUFFALO - Nine goals, eight goal scorers - that has been the Flyers' way so far in the playoffs, the best way to win games in the springtime. Eight goal scorers, from Danny B to the guy they call Z, each with his own story and his own set of motivations.

Take Z.

(Also known as Nikolay Zherdev.)

"I don't think [talent evaluation] was ever the difficult part with him," general manager Paul Holmgren said. "The question was always how he was going to fit in."

Zherdev - playing only because Andreas Nodl suffered an undisclosed injury in Game 2 of the Flyers-Sabres series, getting only about 8 minutes of ice time on a line with Mike Richards and Kris Versteeg - scored a tap-in goal Monday night that gave the Flyers a two-goal lead on the way to a 4-2 victory.

It was not a great individual play - the goal was made by a fine pass from Richards - but it was another demonstration of Zherdev's knack around the net. He is a talented, mystifying package and has been for his entire career. Other teams have thrown up their hands and given up. Holmgren, who rescued Zherdev from the Russian professional league, waived him in the middle of the season and then took him back when nobody claimed him.

He is so enticing a talent. He scored 16 goals this season in only 720 minutes of playing time. Nobody in the NHL this season was more productive in fewer minutes - and only about four players in the last 10 seasons have managed to score that often in such little time.

You can never be sure with Zherdev - a Ukrainian who is uncomfortable enough speaking English during interviews that his teammates sometimes come over and get a kick out of listening to him struggle. So this is a story that will be told by others.

"Z has been a guy who has always stepped up and seemed to score big goals," Richards said. "He did it again [Monday] night. Whenever he's in the lineup, he always seems to do so. He's just a skilled player. He knows where to be on the ice. He's very smart with the puck, offensively gifted. When you add a guy like that to the lineup, I think he just adds that other threat that we need."

Still, there was a point when the Flyers were willing to cut him and cut their losses. Holmgren uses the term "went astray" when he describes Zherdev's decline in play and effort.

"You kind of look around and see before you put a guy on waivers," he said. "I didn't get a sense anybody would claim him. After that, we didn't know what was going to happen. There was a period of time where we weren't even sure what we were going to do with him. We could have loaned him to the American league team [in Adirondack]. We decided to have a sit-down with him and express our thoughts. Both Peter [Laviolette] and I sat with him for pretty close to an hour one day and expressed what we saw, and how he was really in the most control of what might happen in the future.

"From there, to his credit, Nikolay has been great. He's done extra work after practice. His attitude has been good. I don't want to say he's an antisocial guy but he doesn't mix, other than with a few guys. He's with Richie a lot, which is probably a good thing.

"But he's worked," Holmgren said. "He's showed up early and done what he needs to do upstairs in our training room. He's been great with the assistant coaches and the work after practice. He's just one of those guys. He's got unbelievable ability and, given the opportunity and the right mindset, he can help."

Danny Briere, one of Zherdev's teammates, is an elite player and a guy with a great reputation for turning it up in the postseason. He has never had to live the kind of drama that has accompanied Zherdev everywhere, it seems.

But Briere is in the same business, and he can imagine what this one must have been like. Several teams were interested in Zherdev during the offseason - as Holmgren said, "He has skill, speed and the ability to score, and we took a swing, and when he chose us, I thought it was kind of a coup at the time" - and now he was in the process of throwing it all away again.

"When you clear waivers and you realize that nobody wants you, you start to realize that the problem is yourself," Briere said. "But to his credit, he went back and he's been working hard in practice, off the ice as well, to stay ready, not complaining. He got rewarded [Monday] night, and I hope it keeps going for him."

Nothing is guaranteed for Zherdev. He is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

"He's making $2 million now," Holmgren said. "Is that a bargain? It's probably lower than he would warrant on the open market. It's hard to say what will happen. He scored 16 goals in the regular season with limited ice time and hardly any power-play time. Somebody's going to look at that this summer and say it might be worth taking a shot.

"Would it be us? I wouldn't rule it out. I like Nik. He's different, but it's not like he's been a bad guy. He's been a good teammate."

And he has a chance again - and, in the process, an opportunity to add another element to the balanced arsenal the Flyers already present. *

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