The Golden Knights freed up plenty of cap space yesterday with the trade of Marc-Andre Fleury to Chicago. A good chunk of that money will be used on winger Evgenii Dadonov as ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that Vegas is acquiring the veteran from the Senators in exchange for defenseman Nick Holden and a 2022 third-round draft pick. The Senators have confirmed the deal.
Dadonov, 32, was a surprising signing by the Senators last off-season, as the rebuilding club landed one of the top veteran forwards on the open market. The results were underwhelming, as Dadonov’s streak of three straight seasons of 25+ goals was snapped with just 13 tallies this year, a 19-goal full season pace. Dadonov was exposed by Ottawa in the Expansion Draft, but the Seattle Kraken opted to take affordable third-string goalie Joey Daccord instead. It seems that the team moved forward in their efforts to move on from Dadonov and have found a trade partner in the suddenly-flexible Golden Knights.
Vegas has now used up much of their cap space though, adding Dadonov’s $5MM AAV without any retention from the Senators and only shipping out veteran defenseman Nick Holden, who spent much of last season buried in the AHL at a minimal cap hit. In need of a backup goalie, depth on defense, and a new contract for RFA center Nolan Patrick, the Knights currently have just over $2.5MM in cap space. Nevertheless, Dadonov does address the team’s need for more offense and should shine on the veteran roster.
Ottawa meanwhile lands a solid veteran defenseman in Holden to help develop their young blue line as well as a valuable draft pick. They make good use of a contract that they no longer wanted on the books, especially without having to eat any salary.
This takes Vegas out of Eichel sweepstakes!
Huh, kinda insane. And I say that as a fan of Dadonov, even.
Wait, is Joey Daccord better than a 3rd and Holden?
Francis has lost it
He had a down year and I think it’s due to him not being able to be “the guy” on his line. Put him with a more skilled line and he should get back to his totals in Florida. Could be a real nice pickup on the cheap for Vegas.
Why would it take them out of the Eichel sweepstakes?
Teams can get creative in trades if they need to.