New Jersey Devils 2012 Stanley Cup Team: Where are they now?
Marek Zidlicky
A mid-season acquisition like Ponikarovsky, Marek Zidlicky, even towards the end of his career, was an effective offensive defenseman who most excelled away from a top-pairing role.
After coming over from the Minnesota Wild in late February 2012, Marek Zidlicky jumped right into the New Jersey Devils’ lineup and led all Devils defensemen in average ice time in the 22 games he played with them in the regular season. Zidlicky also scored two goals and eight points in those 22 games.
Zidlicky played bigger minutes in the playoffs against tougher competition and didn’t do as well. Zidlicky had just two assists in the series against the New York Rangers and one assist in the series against the Los Angeles Kings. His only goal of the playoffs came in Game Four against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Zidlicky was at least influential in the Flyers series, as he had two assists in Game Three and one goal and one assist in Game Four. Still, his nine points in 24 games wasn’t good enough for a player whose reputation was built on offense. In fairness to Zidlicky, it’s not often a team acquires their number one right-handed defenseman near the trade deadline, and it’s usually not one who was abysmal the season prior.
Marek Zidlicky would play the next three seasons with the New Jersey Devils, and was traded to the Detroit Red Wings midway through the 2014-15 season for what would become a 2016 third-round pick. That pick would later be traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Beau Bennett. Remember him?
Zidlicky went on to play one more year in the NHL, with the New York Islanders in 2015-16, after being traded away from New Jersey.
Marek Zidlicky’s tenure with the New Jersey Devils was neither here nor there. He wasn’t great, and he wasn’t terrible and was probably out of his depth given his age and skill set. Despite not making his NHL debut until age 26, Zidlicky still carved out a solid career for himself with 836 regular season games played across 12 years in the NHL.
Marek Zidlicky was last reported to be working as general manager of the Czech national team.