Boston Bruins

Nikita Zadorov Explains Comments On Swayman; ‘Just (Taken) Out of Context’

Published

1 month ago

March 26, 2025

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Jeremy Swayman’s attempt to fight Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper on Sunday night in Los Angeles lit up social media, but not as much as the comments of his Boston Bruins teammate, Nikita Zadorov, did afterward.

Following Boston’s 7-2 loss, Zadorov was asked what he thought of Swayman trying to stand up for Bruins forward Marat Khusnutdinov.

“Is that what it is?” Zadorov replied. “I don’t know. No comment.”

Really not sure how to interpret this

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Zadorov’s dismissive remark made waves online, with many believing they indicated a rift within the Bruins locker room. On Tuesday, he clarified his comments and denied the existence of any issues between him and Swayman.

“I wasn’t even thinking of commenting toward Sway or anything like that,” Zadorov told reporters following the team’s practice in Anaheim. “It was just (taken) out of context. He’s a huge part of our team. He signed for the next eight years, and I’m here for the next five years. We’re going to be together for a long time, and there’s going to be a lot of success with this team–back in playoff hockey, and, hopefully, win the [Stanley] Cup in here–so I think that’s that’s where we’re going to leave it.”

Make no mistake, Zadorov wasn’t happy after the game in Los Angeles, where the Bruins suffered their sixth-straight loss. As much as many enjoyed seeing Swayman nearly square off with Kuemper, Zadorov didn’t want that to overshadow just how poorly the team played that night as a whole.

“When you ask questions like this after a 7-2 loss, the players are frustrated,” said Zadorov. “Obviously, at that time, I was frustrated. Whatever I said, it wasn’t towards Sway. I didn’t expect that question. Sometimes, you’ve got to understand the situation we are in. You’re pissed off after the game, so I was just basically trying to stay away from positives. There were a lot of negatives in our game, and I want to [focus] that way.”

Boston has lost 14 of its last 17 games, and six of eight since the trade deadline when it sold off multiple veteran players, waiving the proverbial white flag.

Their playoff odds have plummeted on FanDuel.

Since then, though, things have only grown increasingly worse for the Bruins. Their defense has looked inept and only slightly better than their offense, which has completely evaporated by failing to record more than 20 shots on goal in five of the team’s last six outings.

Swayman has done little to stop the bleeding with an abysmal .815 save-percentage in that span. He’s allowed four goals or more in each of his last four starts.

Even with their season basically at a total loss at this point, Zadorov emphasized how important it is for the Bruins to uphold and maintain their longstanding culture.

“We appreciate, in this room, guys stepping in for each other,” Zadorov said. “That’s a culture that was here before I came here, and I’m trying to follow it as the guy who steps in for teammates. Anybody in this room is going to step up for each other. That’s the main part for us.”

Zadorov has become a true enforcer for the Bruins during his first season in Boston and has dropped the gloves several times in defense of his teammates.

As comfortable as he is doing that with his fists, Zadorov has learned his words are just as powerful.

“Now, with social media, you guys are doing your job,” said Zadorov. “As soon as you put it up on Twitter, there are a lot of people who can share their opinions. Even if they don’t matter, they do share it, and it gets blown up because you get views and all that stuff. Obviously, you want to clarify right away. I mean, it’s media training, right? Sometimes, you’re going to know what to say at the right time. I guess my comment wasn’t clarified back then, and now I did.”