The cancellation of Monday’s Evgenii Dadonov trade is a decision that could have an impact on the rest of this season and into the future. Because the Golden Knights’ place in the Western Conference’s playoff picture has become significantly more precarious than it was in the earlier months of the season, activating Alec Martinez and captain Mark Stone off of long-term injured reserve has suddenly become far more necessary than the team may have anticipated it would be. But without the cap space that was set to be cleared by Monday’s voided trade, the team is going to have a far more challenging time trying to get their players back from the long-term injured list. So, this means that the Golden Knights could pursue other trades to clear the cap room. In his 32 Thoughts blog, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman details what that could entail. He floats the Arizona Coyotes as a potential suitor for taking on Dadonov’s contract but states that the potential Dadonov-to-Arizona trade would be less appetizing to the Golden Knights than their voided trade to Anaheim was.
Friedman writes that “Arizona will make itself available” should the Golden Knights want to pursue that avenue of a solution, but it could be expensive. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that the cost of a team taking on Dadonov’s contract from the Golden Knights could be “a first-round pick” plus more. For Vegas, that is a steeper price than the second-rounder they were set to send Anaheim. With the trade deadline passed and any trade of Dadonov now making him ineligible to play again this season, what little leverage Vegas did have has likely evaporated. Even worse for the team, Dadonov’s no-trade protection, the center of most of this conversation, could further cut into the number of teams willing to engage with Vegas on this type of deal. So the central question for Vegas will be: if getting rid of Dadonov’s contract to be able to activate Martinez and Stone is essential to reviving the team’s fading playoff hopes, how much is this season worth to GM Kelly McCrimmon? How much is it worth to owner Bill Foley? The Golden Knights have been remarkably aggressive in their young existence as a franchise, with a relentless commitment to maximizing their team’s ability to win a Stanley Cup with their current core of players. This season has been perhaps their most challenging, and the Dadonov situation brings them to a fork in the road. Will they pay what could be an exorbitant price to trade Dadonov and activate some reinforcements? Or could they potentially refuse to pay that price, and end up missing the playoffs for the first time in franchise history?
- Speaking of the Golden Knights, in another nugget of information from his 32 Thoughts blog, Elliotte Friedman brings up a name that Vegas fans should remember. Friedman reports that Oscar Dansk is pondering a return to North America after his first season overseas since he spent 2016-17 tending the pipes in the SHL. Dansk was the 31st overall pick in the 2012 draft and never quite lived up to his potential. After a 2020-21 season where he only got into 12 games across the NHL and AHL levels, Dansk left for the KHL. He played in 17 regular-season games for Spartak Moscow and registered a .910 save percentage. In three games for the team in the KHL playoffs, Dansk is sporting an impressive .932 mark. Given his track record as a solid AHL goalie (he had a .910 save percentage over a 75-game stretch for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves from 2018-19 through 2019-20), it’s possible that he could return to this side of the Atlantic and get a chance as a team’s third netminder similar to the role he played for Vegas when he was last in North America.
- One potential long-term impact of the voided Dadonov trade could be a change in how no-trade protections associated with contracts are tracked. A central issue with the Dadonov trade was that Dadonov’s contractual right to refuse a trade to the Anaheim Ducks was not communicated when the Knights made the trade earlier this week. The specifics of no-trade protection on NHL contracts are information typically only shared between a player, his representation, and the team he is contracted to. But with this Dadonov situation, that could change. In his piece detailing more information about Dadonov’s situation and no-trade clauses in general, the Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun notes (subscription required) that with the annual GM meetings set to be held next week, the creation of a centralized, league-monitored place to store information on no-trade clauses could be an item on discussion. As with any piece of information, the more eyes that get to see it, the more likely it is to leak. So some parties may be opposed to this solution given that an unintended consequence could be more players’ no-trade lists becoming public information. But given the mess that the Dadonov trade situation evolved into, one wonders if that’s a risk the league’s decision-makers are willing to take.
What happens if Arizona is also on that no-trade list? And if a player is healthy…I would think there is some rule stating they must be activated? Otherwise why can’t a team just fabricate an injury or exaggerate the severity to keep a player on LTIR until the end of the season to circumvent the cap?
Very broken metrics in the league. Obviously you can lie about injuries and then activate a player in the postseason, as evidenced by Kucherovs triumphant return to the lineup for game 1.
As for a rule about activating players, I’m not sure what is currently in place but either way, how do you enforce it? X-rays and stitches are all fine and well, but are you going to force a player to skate if he says that he is still in significant pain and discomfort? Define “healthy”.
I really don’t know the solution to the recent cap circumvention measures that teams are getting away with
I think back to Hossa, his “injury” was a weird one. Suddenly became allergic to his equipment or something. There was Lupul before that, both were investigated by the league if I remember correctly. Why would a player voluntarily sit when they are healthy and able to contribute? Simple solution to stop any LTIR circumvention in this manner is to have the salary cap remain through the post-season. Sounds simple I guess but probably isn’t.
Because teams can’t fabricate injuries. NHL can order a doctor of their choosing to verify the injury. Plus what player would agree to it?
The answer to why a player would sit out until
The playoffs – east to win the cup!!
Kucherov had the security of a long term big $$ contract that he was getting paid for, he could be activated with a month left in the season (other players have come back from same surgery after skating in practice for 2 wks, Kucherov needed 2 months?) or he could continue to practice allowing the team to go over the CAP by his 9.5m contract, and bring in that amount of players, then he miraculously is “healthy ” for game 1.
The answer to how to fix this – Have the CAP during playoffs too!!
@NoRegretzkys – Hossa’s situation was one that has happened for literally decades. Players have been forced to leave the game due to basically severe allergic-types of reactions to the gear they have to wear. His was one of the more publicized in recent years, but not the first. Some players simply refer to it as “The Crud.”
@Mac – BTW, it’s a good thing you have a no trade clause from this board, cuz a number of other message boards were looking to a acquire your services. :D
@Gbear – As it turns out, the teams that were interested and not in cap jail couldn’t afford the cost – Three bags of pucks and some dirt! Looks like J.T. Miller and I are staying put for our respective teams…
:)
I think Ron Flockhart has the skin virus as well.
Sheff is having a field day with the cap loopholes. Vegas is in big trouble.
They sure are, and it’s pretty much their own doing. No one forced them to go after every overpriced toy on the market, no one forced them to hand overpays to free agents, and now it’s time to pay the piper. Eichel was never worth $10 million, and his production prorated over 60 games would barely outpace Nicolas Roy, never mind being the second coming of Gretzky. And now having him in the lineup means they don’t get to bring Mark Stone — a much superior player — back before the playoffs they’re in danger of missing without him.
As happy as I am with Vegas and the cap hell, they should have made a handshake deal with Eichel that they wouldn’t activate him until the playoffs and all their cap issues would have been solved!
How can the union allow a player to be traded into a situation where he cannot play?
I can’t find anything online that actually says the player couldn’t play regular season games. Just postseason. Not sure where to find official nhl literature on the subject
I don’t know the rule, but I thought players could be traded after the deadline and play but not in the post season.
I feel like I remember that, but maybe that was baseball.
Either way, the rule doesn’t make sense. If you CAN trade a player, that player should be able to play. If a player that is currently able to play would no longer be able to play, you shouldn’t be able to trade him.
Not sure why that rule would exist, but under no circumstances should a union allow it.
I recognize that rule from baseball for sure
Yeah, that’s a baseball rule. I’m not sure of the specifics since they got rid of waiver trades, but that rule applied to players traded after August 31.
They should take away no trade clauses they make millions they should have to play where ever
nope, it’s an incentive to sign somewhere where you can have that pieceof mind
Nhl should ban all rules so there’s no cheating or maybe nhl should forbid everything. I dont know its this or that i think
Well … as far as Dansk goes, two thoughts. (1) Guy’s a UFA. He can sign wherever the heck he wants. What makes him more likely to favor a team that didn’t have a use for him in October? (2) And how in the merry hell would Vegas have the cap space to fit him in even if he was inclined to go back there to sit in the press box?
Weber is on LTIR for 4 more years at 7.86M$ a year.
Vegas could acquire the contract from the Habs for Brisson or a 1st rd pick plus a late round pick, then either keep Dadanov who is doing well, or send him through waivers. Arizona could then pick him up for free.
With Dadanov gone and with the addition of Weber’s contract Vegas gets close to 13M$ in cap space?
Why would Arizona take the contract though without getting a pick or something as well?
Or they can pass. The advantage of picking him off waivers is getting a good player for no acquisition cost. But if they are not interested they pass.
So, if I’m a GM and I have an unproductive veteran player who won’t waive his NTC to go to a team I have a deal lined up with, I can threaten to trade him after the deadline to a team not on his NTC and ruin the rest of his year?
Again, I don’t understand how the union allows this.
I don’t understand how they could forbid it. A team can trade a player for damn near any reason they feel like, good bad or indifferent. Since when does a team need to justify their reasons for unloading a player to the union?
I just ♥️ watching Vegas struggle to get out from under the weighted blanket that they bought for their own bed!!! ♥️ it!!!
Vegas missing the playoffs will truly be their ‘welcome to the NHL moment’, and I’m here for it…. lol.
sometimes you want something too bad, and that fluke of a run to the Finals gave them some ridiculous belief that the regular season is just an afterthought when you have a deep roster full of high-priced assets…
well Knights fans, here come the tears… learn to get used to that queasy feeling we all get as we see our team in a tailspin and falling through the floor more years than not… that’s hockey.
Dadanov would rather go to Arizona then Anaheim?