The Devils have signed winger Evgenii Dadonov to a one-year deal, the team announced. It’s worth a $1MM base salary plus performance bonuses, Stephen Whyno of the AP reports. The club also brought back defenseman Dennis Cholowski on a one-year, league minimum contract after he briefly became a free agent.
New Jersey will find a strong lineup match in Dadonov after parting ways with Erik Haula earlier this month. Like Haula, Dadonov is a high-volume shooter who has continued to produce through his later years. He scored a stout 20 goals and 40 point in 80 games with the Dallas Stars this season – then tacked on an additional four points in 16 postseason games. The performance was a nice refresher of Dadonov’s abilities, after he spent part of the 2023-24 season injured. He scored just 23 points in 51 games as a result. Prior to that, Dadonov had either totaled, or paced for, at least 40 points in two of his last four seasons.
His routine challenge of the 40-point mark began after a pair of red-hot seasons marking Dadonov’s return from a five-year tenure in Russia’s KHL from 2012 to 2017. He rejoined the NHL with the Florida Panthers, and quickly managed back-to-back 28-goal seasons. Those performances were bolstered to 65 points in 74 games, and 70 points in 82 games – though he wasn’t able to keep the good times rolling through a third year in Florida. His dip to 25 goals and 47 points in 69 games of 2019-20 sparked a trio of one-year stops with the Ottawa Senators, Vegas Golden Knights, and Montreal Canadiens. Dadonov didn’t stay longer than one year with a club until he joined Dallas for three years beginning in 2022. Now, Dadonov will head to the Eastern Conference, and likely a hardy role on New Jersey’s third line.
Meanwhile, Cholowski will be set to return to the extra defender role he carried through the end of last season. He began the year in the seventh-man role wit hthe New York Islanders, but was bumped into the roster for 33 games after Mike Reilly was diagnosed with a heart condition. Cholowski recorded 10 points in those outings – not enough to command much time in New York, but plenty to gain notice on the open market. New Jersey acquired Cholowski in exchange for forward Adam Beckman. He stepped into the Devils’ extra role and didn’t post any scoring through six regular season games or two postseason games. Still, Cholowski is a well-rounded depth piece who can provide serviceable fill-in should the Devils’ blue-line face injury.
PHR’s Gabriel Foley contributed significantly to this article.
Why was he so cheap, 40 points is decent