Artem Zub

Arrival in Ottawa
Artem Zub signed a one-year, entry level contract with the Ottawa Senators on May 1, 2020. Prior to signing with the Senators, he had played 5 seasons in the KHL and won a gold medal for Russia at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. He had never played in North America before and did not speak much, if any, English. He also did not have any social media presence.

Fans immediately took a liking to him, only because of his name and the fact that he was a total mystery. No one had any idea how his game would translate to the NHL.

2020-21 NHL Season
Zub was not in the starting lineup for the shortened 2021 season, and the team got off to an awful start without him. Fans soon started calling for the guy with the funny name to join the lineup, if only because the defense couldn't exactly get any worse. When Zub did eventually get put in the lineup, he did surprisingly well, quickly establishing himself as at least a top-4 defenseman on the team. He was a quiet, stay-at-home-defenseman. It soon became a meme to tweet just "zub."

Zub's status as a Sens legend was cemented on February 15th, 2021, in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Sens had been losing 5-1 at the end of the second period. After a late goal to end the second period, they opened the third down 5-2, with Zub in the penalty box. At the very start of the period, the penalty expired, and defensive defenseman Artem Zub jumped out of the penalty box, went on a breakaway, and scored a beautiful first NHL goal. That goal would contribute to the biggest comeback in Ottawa Senators history, as the Sens ultimately won the game 6-5 in overtime.

2021 Offseason
At the beginning of the 2021 offseason, an Instagram account purporting to be Artem Zub appeared. Many Sens players followed the account, as did the official Senators Instagram account. The account posted rarely, but frequently interacted with fans and sometimes reposted posts about Zub. Fans were extremely excited to get this tiny glimpse into the player's personality. Unfortunately, however, the account was revealed to be a fake in October 2021. How this account managed to fool everyone on the team for so many months is just one of the many mysteries surrounding Artem Zub.

Zub also signed a two-year contract during the 2021 offseason.

2021-22 NHL Season
Zub began 2021-22 on the first pairing with Thomas Chabot.

During the home opener against the Leafs on October 14th, fans chanted "Zuuuuub" every time he touched the puck. This soon became a tradition during all home games. His teammates made sure he knew the fans were not booing him. A few weeks into the season, Zub did his first press conference without a translator, and confirmed that he liked the "Zub" chants.