Retired NHLer Reveals Stories About the Ultimate Russian Draft Bust

Nikolai Zherdev was the 4th overall pick in the legendary 2003 draft which boasted 12 1,000 game players in the first round alone. Zherdev was uber-talented and many thought he was the precursor to Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.

However, his NHL career only lasted 6 seasons where he scored only 261 points. Many wonder what went wrong with Zherdev and his former teammate Mike Rupp has shared his habits.

On the Nasty Knuckles podcast, Rupp shared Zherdev's habits and they are shocking for any NHLer.

Zherdev would not show up to scheduled workouts and in response to this, Blue Jackets management introduced a policy where if a player were to miss a mandatory workout, they would be fined $100.

In response to this, Zherdev had his translator write a cheque for $3,000 so that he would not have to go to the next 30 days' worth of workouts.

In another story, Rupp shared how he had to cover Zherdev's parties tab after they dined and dashed. Not the typical behavior of an NHLer making millions.

A lack of work ethic and partying appeared to be what got in the way of Zherdev and a lengthy NHL career. Zherdev undoubtedly missed out on millions because of his own actions.