Former Vancouver Canucks defenceman Nikita Zadorov hits Islanders fans with hilarious insult
While J.T. Miller isn’t having a great time with his new team, the same can’t be said for former Vancouver Canucks defenceman Nikita Zadorov.
The hulking defenceman, who is in his second season with the Boston Bruins, caused a ruckus during a Tuesday night contest against the New York Islanders.
Midway through the game in the second period, Zadorov got tied up with 2025 first overall pick Matthew Schaefer.
During the mix-up, Zadorov gave Schaefer a shot to the face, prompting the Islanders to stand up for their teammate.
Everyone has Schaeferās back #isles pic.twitter.com/3VCmSs7WaW
— YESUVš (@IslesWhiteSUV) November 5, 2025
After the game, Zadorov reposted his direct messages on Instagram, where it was apparent that Islanders fans were not too happy about the incident.
The 30-year-old then decided to repost a screenshot of his DMs with a hilarious insult.
“Get out of my DM’s and go to the rink to cheer for your team,” he said. “That place was a library tonight.”
After Nikita Zadorov was called for roughing against Matthew Schaefer on Tuesday, he shared a screenshot of his DMs after the game, and a message for the fans who sent them to him š¤«š
(via IG/zadorov_16) pic.twitter.com/dWhUCFhRWG
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 5, 2025
Well, it looks like Zadorov hasn’t lost his sense of humour since playing for the Canucks.
This isn’t the first time that middling fan support for the Islanders has come up recently. Last season, Mat Barzal was caught on camera appearing to complain about the lack of fans at an Islanders home game.
So far this season, the Isles rank 26th in attendance capacity, selling 88.7 per cent of tickets for their seven home games thus far. They’ve averaged 15,182 fans per contest, which ranks 29th overall in the NHL.
After the game, Zadorov continued his humorous run when asked about the mix-up with Schaefer.
“I just looked at my PIMs from last year, and I need to get them up,” Zadorov told reporters.
The 6-foot-6 defenceman racked up eight penalty minutes Tuesday night, and his 24 PIMs is currently the 11th-highest mark in the NHL.
He led the NHL last season with 145 penalty minutes.