“The presence that Z [Nikita Zadorov] brings is important to us. Playing a lot of top four minutes in the playoffs against top guys comes with a bit of swagger, he has certainly seen his game grow and probably get a little more defined in what he’s capable of doing,” said Don Sweeney. “Early in his career, he had a lot of nights out to try and make an impact, and he made it for both teams at times, like all young players do that are aggressive in that sense.

“Now he really understands his game and what he brings to the table. He’s very excited, and obviously I think his quote stands for itself in being excited to join the Boston Bruins and have a chance to play with Charlie McAvoy if that’s how it lines up, and the team. He was very intent when we found out he had an interest in Boston for all the right reasons, and that’s why we’re excited about bringing him in.”

Of the six Bruins defensemen expected to start the season, McAvoy is now actually the smallest at 6-foot-1 and 209 pounds with none of the other D-men even registering under 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds.

Zadorov is now the biggest and most fearsome at 6-6 and 248 pounds, but even so he’s now bristling at anybody calling him by his “Big Z” moniker given Zdeno Chara’s Hall of Fame-level run as “Big Zee” in Black and Gold.

“I mean, it’s hard. I’m not even close [to Zdeno Chara], and I want to start with I know in my past, teams and people were calling me “Big Z.” Please do not ever call me “Big Z” now because I mean, I feel like I’m not even close to half of the ‘Big Zee.’” Said Zadorov. “He was unbelievable. He’s one of the best defensemen of all time. There’s definitely a lot to learn from him.

“Obviously, he was one of my role models growing up because [of his] size, [his] kind of physical play and everything, and the way [he is as a] leader, I think I can learn a lot from him.”

🎥 Nikita Zadorov on joining the #NHLBruins: "Where do I start about why did I choose the Bruins? Everything…it's a big league, everybody talks…haven't heard a bad thing in 11 years about the Bruins culture."

Watch full media availability ➡️ https://t.co/DbwRo60KlX pic.twitter.com/kCJJnecvgB

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) July 1, 2024

Still, there is no denying that the Big Bad Bruins are a little more back to their traditional, old-school personality with bruisers like Zadorov, Brandon Carlo and Andrew Peeke taking some of the heat off McAvoy to always be the heavy hitter in the lineup. Adding Zadorov frees McAvoy up to focus a little more on moving the puck and creating offense and could even protect him from some of the physical abuse he takes if they become defensive partners.

Let’s face it, in today’s NHL you need a collection of tall trees across the back end if you want to actually hoist the Cup at the end of the season.

Really interesting look from @JasonGregor at the common thread from the last 20 #StanleyCup finalists: Their defensemen averaged 6-foot-2 and 219 pounds. https://t.co/ZcxCo2uC3f

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 15, 2021

Even puck movers like Mason Lohrei and Hampus Lindholm are big-bodied types that won’t be easily overpowered around the net as smaller D-men have been during the playoffs in year’s past.

For his part, Zadorov is under no confusion about his top priorities even if he believes there is more to his game than big hits and punishing opponents around the Boston net.

“As I got older, the league shifted towards little fast, skilled D-man. So, you know, when I was drafted, there wasn’t many of them in the league, but I mean, I can chip in offensively when you need. Obviously, the defense is first for me in being physical, being hard to play against,” said Zadorov. “That’s the main thing as well, but I can also skate and score sometimes, you know, like, not like a big goal scorer, but, I mean, I’m trying my best and like you said, sometimes it takes some time for D-men to develop in this league. I feel like one of those cases for sure if you look, I’m getting better and better every year.”

Truly it’s become a league where you can enjoy regular-season success with smaller defensemen, but that can become a problem when it comes to Stanley Cup playoff time if you aren’t big, heavy, stout and willing to play to your size around the net.

It’s unfortunate that it became his last play in a Boston Bruins uniform, but is there any doubt John Tavares recognized he had an undersized Matt Grzelcyk covering him when he bull-rushed the net to set up this overtime playoff game-winner for the Maple Leafs?

KNIES OT WINNER in GAME 5 vs Bruins courtesy of @Bonsie1951 and @Jim_Ralph. @LeafsJelly pic.twitter.com/GvBdBRyLCF

— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) May 1, 2024

Those kinds of plays can be killers in the postseason when weaknesses are exposed and exploited by a good hockey team full of opportunistic hockey players. The B’s obviously recovered and advanced to the second round of the playoffs, but Grzelcyk didn’t play again in this past postseason before signing a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins in free agency on July 1. It was a similar situation with Torey Krug a few years ago when the Bruins decided against matching a lengthy big money contract, he was being offered by the St. Louis Blues, and allowed the smaller D-man to sign with a Blues team that was eventually looking to trade that Krug contract just a couple of years later.

Granted, the Bruins have not yet been able to replace Krug’s dynamic offense on their power play since he exited for St. Louis, but there were also past B’s postseason moments where you could point to Krug being manhandled defensively in the playoffs as well.

Now, the Zadorov move makes them unquestionably bigger, stronger, heavier and meaner, but also deeper as McAvoy, Lindholm, Carlo and Zadorov are all legit top-4 guys, with Lohrei also pushing to be in that category as he enters what should be his first full NHL season.

“I think the depth of our defense is the strength of our hockey club, I wanted to continue to make sure we have those foundational pieces in place. I think this group can as a whole, we can tease a little more offense out of it,” said Sweeney. “So if you’re going to allow Charlie and Hampus to get back to hopefully the level he’s capable of, from one year to the next. I think you have to have that depth to allow [Mason Lohrei] to continue to grow, as I referenced earlier, and expand his footprint in the game.

“I think having a person [like Zadorov] that can step in and play. You’re really looking at our lineup now on the back end. Every guy can really play 20 minutes. We can distribute that ice time, hopefully, we’ll leave it more evenly.”

Many are understandably paying more attention to the Elias Lindholm signing in free agency in terms of big impact with the Bruins, and it’s understandable given the needs they had at the center position. But it’s being vastly underplayed how much adding a big, intimidating and tough customer like Zadorov on the back end is going to improve the Black and Gold both during the regular season and, more importantly, during the Stanley Cup playoffs where size once again matters in a big way.