The hold-up in Nikita Zadorov's contract talks finally revealed

For the low-end price of two mid-draft picks, Patrik Allvin acquired what became a fan favourite and a player who turned out to be the Canucks' most valuable defenseman in their playoffs run.

Now that the Canucks' season has ended, Zadorov is headed to the free agency market unless Patrik Allvin finds a way to meet his salary expectations. The Canucks have already committed to an offer for the Big Z, but it was rejected since it was simply not enough. According to recent reports, Zadorov loves Vancouver and would be willing to lower his salary expectations to play for the Canucks. From Rick Dhaliwal's sources, Allvin and the Canucks management have no problem meeting Zadorov's term expectations, the money currently stands in the way:

During the playoffs, Frank Seravalli revealed that Nikita Zadorov could be asking for as much as $6M over the next 5 to 6 years if he goes to the open market. If he's willing to lower his expectations, does that mean he'd agree to $5.5M? $5M? The Canucks' first offer was reported to be south of $5M.