‘He’s a winner’: Zadorov says he’d take MacKinnon over McDavid, Matthews

Vancouver Canucks defenceman Nikita Zadorov is gearing up to stop who he thinks is the best hockey player in the world on Wednesday night.

And no, he’s not facing Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers or Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Canucks are taking on Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche, the one player Zadorov would build a team around if he could.

“If I were to build a team, I would build around (MacKinnon) over those other two guys,” Zadorov said when asked to compare the three superstars.

Why would Zadorov choose MacKinnon?

“Because he’s a winner,” Zadorov said. “He won the Stanley Cup.”

MacKinnon helped the Avalanche bring home the Cup in 2022. McDavid and Matthews are both still searching for the first of their career.

The Avalanche forward also leads the league in points this season with 113 (41 goals, 72 assists), which is 10 more than McDavid and 33 clear of Matthews. (Matthews leads the league with 54 goals.)

Although McDavid and Matthews don’t have a Cup to their name, they do both have a Hart Trophy, which is one accolade MacKinnon is still searching for.

But at the pace he’s on this season, there is a good chance he could add that to his trophy case as well.

You can watch Zadorov and the Canucks try to contain MacKinnon live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+, at 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT.