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Evgenii Dadonov

East Notes: Dadonov, Gritsyuk, Hagens, Peddle

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One of the more under-the-radar signings on the opening day of unrestricted free agency this month was the Devils signing winger Evgenii Dadonov to a one-year, $1MM contract that also contains $2.25MM in games played and playoff bonuses.  He told Sports.ru’s Dmitry Shevchenko that he had two or three other similar offers on the table in terms of money and bonus-laden structure while not giving much consideration to the offers made for him to return home to the KHL.  Dadonov is coming off a 20-goal, 20-assist season in Dallas but saw his role reduced in the playoffs which likely didn’t help his cause on the open market this month.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • Still with the Devils, prospect winger Arseni Gritsyuk acknowledged to Alexey Shevchenko of Sport-Express that he has a European Assignment Clause in his deal. It will kick in if he’s not on New Jersey’s roster by November 15th.  The 24-year-old had a strong showing with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL last season, notching 17 goals and 27 assists in 49 games, helping earn him a one-year, entry-level pact back in May.  It appears Gritsyuk is open to starting the season with AHL Utica but only for a short period of time.
  • While the Bruins could probably use James Hagens in their lineup for the upcoming season, Boston.com’s Conor Ryan suggests that the best thing for their new top prospect would be to stay in college for another year. Hagens was a point-per-game player in 37 games for Boston College last season, an impressive performance as an underager, leading some to think he could be ready to make the jump.  But rather than throw him into the mix in what could be another retooling season, Hagens might be better off being the undisputed top player for the Eagles (following the departures of Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault) for next season, then getting a few games in with Boston once his college campaign comes to an end.
  • Penguins prospect Brady Peddle has decided to head to major junior as QMJHL Charlottetown announced that they’ve signed the blueliner for the upcoming season. The 18-year-old was a third-round pick last month, going 91st overall after spending last year with USHL Waterloo where he had 10 points in 62 regular season games and 10 more in 15 playoff outings.  Peddle is committed to Michigan State for 2026-27 and that appears to remain the intention so his junior stint is expected to just be for 2025-26.

Devils Sign Evgenii Dadonov, Dennis Cholowski

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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.

No Extension Talks Planned For Stars And Evgenii Dadonov

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Veteran winger Evgenii Dadonov proved to be a valuable addition for the Stars at the 2022 trade deadline, adding another offensive threat to a deep roster.  He made a good enough impression to land a two-year, $4.5MM extension a few days before free agency opened up last year.

As he’s now in the final year of that agreement, Dadonov is now technically extension-eligible.  However, it doesn’t appear as if he’s interested in holding any extension talks, telling Sport-Express’ Mikhail Skryl that he wants to wait and see what happens after the season.

The 35-year-old wasn’t quite as impactful offensively as he was when he was first acquired.  He missed 31 games due to a lower-body injury; his 51 games played were his lowest since the 2011-12 campaign.  Nevertheless, Dadonov was still a capable secondary contributor, notching 12 goals and 11 assists while logging a little over 13 minutes a night in what was a largely bottom-six role.  He chipped in with seven points in 19 playoff appearances before Dallas was eliminated in the Western Conference Final.

At this point, it’s likely that Dadonov will be deployed in a similar role in 2024-25 with the Stars returning the bulk of their forward group from the playoffs.  Accordingly, he could be in line for more limited playing time once again compared to what he played with Florida, Ottawa, and Vegas in recent years.

To that end, Dadonov didn’t rule out the possibility of returning to Russia after this coming season.  Going back overseas is something he’s already done once as he left for the KHL in 2012, only returning in 2017.  Finishing up his career back home in a role he’s more accustomed to could certainly be tempting.  At this point, Dadonov would only say that he expects to field both NHL and KHL interest next summer but it appears the prospect of leaving the NHL is already on his mind.

Senators Retain Seventh-Overall Pick, Defer Penalty To 2025 Or 2026

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The Senators have opted to retain the seventh overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft after failing to win either draw during Tuesday night’s lottery, general manager Steve Staios confirmed today (via Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch). Ottawa is now required to forfeit either their 2025 or 2026 first-round selection as a result of failing to properly inform the Golden Knights of winger Evgenii Dadonov’s no-trade clause in a July 2021 trade.

As was the case this year, the Senators will need to inform the league within 24 hours after the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery if they wish to retain their 2025 first-round choice or surrender their 2026 top pick. With Ottawa planning on challenging for postseason action after another difficult campaign this season, choosing to retain this year’s choice – likely the highest-value pick – was widely expected.

There will be a multitude of high-ceiling talents for the Sens to choose from in what’s billed as one of the deeper top 10s in recent memory. Checking in at seventh overall in TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s recent polling of NHL scouts is dynamic defenseman Zayne Parekh, who lit up the Ontario Hockey League this season with 33 goals and 96 points in 66 games for the Saginaw Spirit. Both those figures led all OHL defensemen, continuing to take leaps and bounds forward in his development after earning All-Rookie Team honors with Saginaw the year before. The Toronto-area native is a right-shot blue liner and is ever-so-slightly undersized at 6’0″ and 181 lbs, but they should almost definitely step into the NHL by 2025-26 if not next season. He’d be a welcome addition to a Sens defense prospect pool that lacks much NHL upside outside of shutdown D-man Tyler Kleven.

Other options potentially available in the Sens’ range are two-way blue-liner Sam Dickinson, offensive defenseman Zeev Buium, Finnish forward Konsta Helenius, and quickly-rising winger Tij Iginla. All would likely be top-five locks in weaker drafts.

Central Notes: Stars, McGroarty, Niederreiter, Wild

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Looking to clinch home-ice advantage through the Western Conference Finals tomorrow night against the St. Louis Blues, the Dallas Stars will be without defenseman Jani Hakanpaa according to Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News. However, in the same report, after being a full participant in practice this morning, forward Evgenii Dadonov will be a game-time decision.

Having already missed the last 13 games for the Stars due to a lower-body injury, the organization does not seem keen to rush Hakanpaa back and potentially reaggravate his injury before the playoffs. Even though he is one of the team’s better physical defensemen, Dallas hasn’t missed a beat in Hakanpaa’s absence, as they’ve produced a 10-2-0 record while limiting opponents to just a 1.92 goals against per game on average.

Unlike Hakanpaa, Dadonov has been out of the lineup for the last two months with a lower-body injury, which will cap him at only 51 games played this year if he can play in tomorrow night’s contest. With the team on the precipice of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, Dadonov may find himself in the press box for much of the postseason but could add some offensive punch to the team’s fourth line.

Other Central notes:

  •  After his sophomore season came to an end on April 11th against the Boston College Eagles, Rutger McGroarty is opting to forego signing an entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets and will return to the University of Michigan next year according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Displaying a very mature sense of hockey IQ for his age, the 14th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft showed off with an elite playmaking season with the Wolverines. Helping his team make their third straight Frozen Four appearance, McGroarty scored 16 goals and 52 points over 36 games this year and should become a fixture of the Hobey Baker Award conversation next season.
  • Missing the last five games due to an Achilles injury, Nino Niederreiter should return to the lineup tonight against the Seattle Kraken (X Link). During the organization’s game against the Los Angeles Kings on April 1st, Niederreiter sustained a cut to his tendon, which required eight stitches to close. With the team still having two games left to play, Winnipeg will need only one point to clinch the second spot in the Central Division.
  • With their season set to come to an end on Wednesday evening, the Minnesota Wild will get forward Frederick Gaudreau back in the lineup as he has officially returned from personal leave according to Sarah McLellan of Star Tribune Sports. Unfortunately, it does not appear that Mats Zuccarello will return to the team before their final game, meaning he will finish the year with 11 goals and 62 points in 68 games.

Central Notes: Dadonov, Hakanpaa, Niederreiter, Toffoli, Hayes

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Injured Stars skaters Evgenii Dadonov and Jani Hakanpää haven’t yet returned to full team practices, but head coach Peter DeBoer is optimistic they’ll be options when the playoffs kick off on April 20, Brien Rea of Bally Sports Southwest reports. Both are sidelined with lower-body injuries, although only Dadonov is on long-term injured reserve. His role has been filled expertly by rookie Logan Stankoven, who’s mustered six goals and 12 points in 17 games since making his NHL debut in late February. The 35-year-old is only a season removed from being one of Dallas’ more important secondary scorers in last year’s run to the Western Conference Final, potting four goals and 10 points in 16 playoff games. However, he’s been limited to 23 points in 50 games this season after inking a two-year, $4.5MM extension to remain in Dallas over the summer. As such, there’s no guarantee he enters the playoff lineup ahead of Stankoven even if healthy, and the skill winger isn’t the best fit for a fourth-line role.

Hakanpää’s absence hasn’t been as lengthy, not suiting up since March 16 against the Kings. The 32-year-old Finn had been pushed down the depth chart anyway, thanks to the emergence of Thomas Harley in a top-pairing role and the acquisition of Chris Tanev from the Flames, taking him out of his usual second-pairing role alongside countryman Esa Lindell. When he returns to health, it’ll be in battle with Nils Lundkvist for bottom-pairing minutes alongside veteran anchor Ryan Suter. Still an incredibly competent shutdown blue-liner, Hakanpää has two goals and 12 points in 64 games this season, his third in the Lone Star State. His possession metrics remain below average but are still in an excusable range given his extreme defensive-zone usage at even strength, although his short-handed metrics have taken a tumble. He’s one of their most relied-upon penalty-killers when healthy, averaging 3:16 per game.

Other updates out of the Central:

  • Jets winger Nino Niederreiter will be out at least one week after sustaining a laceration on the back of his leg from a skate cut against the Kings on Monday, head coach Rick Bowness said today (via John Lu of TSN). Bowness called the injury “a pretty bad gash” and said it would have been more severe had Niederreiter not been wearing Kevlar socks. Niederreiter’s return timeline will keep him out of the next three games, but he could re-enter the lineup in a key battle for playoff positioning against the Stars next Thursday. The 31-year-old has once again excelled as a remarkably consistent two-way middle-six winger, potting 18 goals and 33 points in 75 games this year in spite of slightly reduced minutes. He potted four points in five games in Winnipeg’s first-round loss to the Golden Knights last year and will be a secondary X-factor if Winnipeg wants to escape a likely showdown with the Avalanche in a few weeks. Niederreiter will be replaced in tomorrow’s lineup against the Flames by trade-deadline pickup Tyler Toffoli, Bowness confirmed. He’d missed Winnipeg’s tilt against Los Angeles with an illness. Toffoli has been a solid pickup for Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, scoring four goals and two assists for six points in 11 games. He’s now reached the 30-goal plateau in back-to-back seasons for the first time.
  • Blues center Kevin Hayes has the flu and is questionable for a practically do-or-die game against the Predators tomorrow, Lou Korac of NHL.com reports. He’s expected to travel with the club as they embark on a three-game road trip, though, and could return soon after if he misses the Nashville contest. Their already slim postseason chances would drop to around 1% with a regulation loss and 2% with an overtime loss, per MoneyPuck. They’re three points back of the Kings for the final wild-card spot in the West with one more game played, although L.A. is on a three-game losing streak. Hayes has disappointed after coming over in an offseason trade from the Flyers, notching 13 goals and 29 points in 75 games in a bottom-six role. It’s the worst offensive output of his 10-year career by a significant margin. If he’s unable to suit up against the Preds, Nikita Alexandrov and Zachary Bolduc are both extras on hand and available to enter the lineup.

Dallas Stars Recall Matěj Blümel, Place Evgenii Dadonov On LTIR

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In an announcement coming from the Dallas Stars organization, the team has recalled forward Matěj Blümel from their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars. In a corresponding move, the team has placed forward Evgenii Dadonov on Long-Term Injured Reserve, retroactively to February 10th.

With Dadonov now expected to miss both the next 10 games and 24 days for the Stars, it is only natural that the team decided to fill in his lost minutes with a depth option from the AHL. However, it does come as a slight surprise that the Stars did not opt to call up either Logan Stankoven or Mavrik Bourque, who are first and second in league scoring, respectively.

Nevertheless, Blümel is no pushover offensively, as he’s scored 20 goals through 46 games for Texas this season, good for second on the team in that category. Furthermore, unlike Stankoven and Bourque, Blümel does have prior NHL experience, scoring one goal in six games for the Stars last season.

At the end of the day, this decision may ultimately benefit both Stankoven and Bourque in the long run, as they will both be able to continue to play high-leverage minutes for a competitive team. Well on their way to a playoff run this spring, Texas is sporting a 24-17-3-2 record up to this point sitting second in the AHL’s Central Division.

Evgenii Dadonov Out Indefinitely With Lower-Body Fracture

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Stars winger Evgenii Dadonov will miss “extended time” after undergoing imaging Monday that revealed a lower-body fracture, head coach Peter DeBoer said (via Stars radio host Owen Newkirk). Dadonov, 34, sustained the injury during the second period of Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Canadiens but later returned to the game, skating three shifts in the third period.

The 536-game NHL veteran has played in all but two games for the Stars this year, ranking ninth on the team in goals (12) and 11th in points (23) through 50 games. Once a top-six threat with the Panthers in the late 2010s, Dadonov has settled in nicely to a third-line role in Dallas and signed a two-year, $4.5MM extension to remain with the Stars after a pre-deadline acquisition from the Canadiens last season.

If the Stars expect him to miss over 10 games and 24 days, they can place him on long-term injured reserve and open up a significant chunk of cap space ahead of the March 8 trade deadline. Unless he’s projected to be out for the remainder of the regular season, though, they would need to keep some flexibility available to activate Dadonov when he’s ready to return.

While a decent complementary scoring piece, Dadonov’s two-way play at even strength has been middling. His expected -1.2 rating is the second-worst on the team, only ahead of shutdown specialist Jani Hakanpää.

Dadonov is only a few months removed from a strong postseason showing, recording four goals, 10 points, and a +5 rating in 16 contests with the Stars in their run to last year’s Western Conference Final. While spending most of his prime playing in his native Russia, he’s been a solid complementary piece with 301 points in 481 games since returning to the NHL with Florida in 2017.

Dallas has been one of the league’s healthiest teams, only utilizing 20 skaters this season. That’s meant 22-year-old Mavrik Bourque and 20-year-old Logan Stankoven, their pair of breakout prospects recording over a point per game with AHL Texas, have remained in the minor leagues all season long.

They aren’t going to immediately get a shot with Dadonov out – 2018 first-round pick Ty Dellandrea will get a chance to prove he can hold his own in a third-line role. If more injuries strike or if Dellandrea struggles, however, at least one of Bourque or Stankoven will make their NHL debuts in the coming weeks.

Ottawa Senators To Forfeit First-Round Pick

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The NHL has announced that the Ottawa Senators will forfeit a first-round draft pick for their role in the July 2021 trade of Evgenii Dadonov from the Senators to the Vegas Golden Knights and the subsequent, invalidated March 2022 Dadonov trade between the Golden Knights and the Anaheim Ducks.

According to the league’s announcement, the Senators will have 24 hours after the conclusion of the NHL Draft lottery to determine if they will surrender their first-round pick in that given year, and they will be able to choose between giving up a pick in either the 2024, 2025, or 2026 drafts.

The Vegas Golden Knights issued a statement regarding the Senators’ punishment, stating:

We appreciate the league’s diligence on this matter and respect the decision. The club will have no further comment.

This issue originates from 2021, when the Golden Knights acquired Dadonov from Ottawa. No official statement regarding how exactly the Senators mishandled that trade has been released, but The Athletic’s Jesse Granger writes on X that the issue relates to the Senators’ handling of the no-trade list in Dadonov’s contract.

While the league did not elaborate on any specifics as to what the Senators did that merited such a punishment, the fact that a first-round pick has been docked sends a signal that the league deemed serious punishment in order for the Senators.

Per the league’s statement, the NHL nor any of the involved clubs will comment further on this matter, meaning no official explanation of the reasons for this punishment will come.

Thankfully, reporting from Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch sheds some light on the situation. Garrioch reported that today’s punishment has come “as a result of general manager Pierre Dorion giving the Knights the wrong information about the existence of Dadonov’s 10-team ‘no move’ clause.”

The Golden Knights, seemingly believing that Dadonov did not possess no-trade protection, attempted to trade the player to the Anaheim Ducks in a move that was eventually vetoed by the league.

Garrioch added: “The Knights were under the impression that Dadonov hadn’t entered a 10-team no-trade list before the 2021-22 campaign so he no longer had one.”

This appears to have been an issue for Golden Knights management, as Garrioch cites a source who said: “Vegas president of hockey operations George McPhee and GM Kelly McCrimmon refused to let this matter go and appealed to the NHL’s head office to look into it,” a move that resulted in today’s punishment.

Garrioch also laid out the Senators’ argument in defense of their actions, stating that at the time of the trade, the Senators “argued that Vegas had the contract on its books for eight months” and had not looked “at the details” of the contract. While it’s true that the Golden Knights had employed Dadonov for quite a bit of time before the trade, it seems this argument was not sufficient to stave off punishment from the league.

This reported chain of events has not been officially confirmed, and the league’s statement today makes clear that no official confirmation is set to come. But regardless of what exactly happened in Ottawa to merit this kind of punishment, the reality the Senators now face is that they have lost a key asset for their future.

Their right to choose which draft pick they surrender does offer them some crucial flexibility in the matter, especially if the team misses the playoffs this season and ends up in the draft lottery. Just a few years after the Senators had to watch the Colorado Avalanche draft Bowen Byram fourth-overall with a draft pick that once belonged to them, the Senators will not want a repeat of that situation.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Dallas Stars Extend Evgenii Dadonov

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The Dallas Stars are bringing back a good piece of forward depth, re-signing Evgenii Dadonov to a two-year contract extension through the 2024-25 season. The deal, worth $4.5MM, carries an average annual value and cap hit of $2.25MM.

Dadonov, 34, played a crucial depth scoring role for the Stars after a late-season trade from the Montreal Canadiens. He notched 15 points in 23 regular-season games and 10 points in 16 playoff games after a rough go of things with the Habs, finishing his tenure there with just 18 points (and just four goals) in 50 games.

Stars general manager Jim Nill expressed his satisfaction with an extension getting done:

Re-signing Evgenii was high on our priority list. He was a key player for us down the stretch, and he elevated his game on the big stage during the playoffs. We’re happy to get a deal done that works for both sides.

It was, unfortunately, a tough end to the season for Dadonov, who missed the final three games of Dallas’ Western Conference Final loss due to a lower-body injury sustained early in Game 3. He’ll get a chance for two more deep playoff runs with the Stars and head coach Pete DeBoer.

Dadonov’s NHL journey spans nine seasons, during which he has accumulated 131 goals and 167 assists for 298 points in 486 regular-season games. He has suited up for five teams, including the Stars, Canadiens, Vegas Golden Knights, Ottawa Senators, and Florida Panthers. He’ll hit the 500-game milestone this season, a remarkable feat for a player who also suited up for six seasons and over 300 games in the KHL.

With Dadonov under contract, Dallas’ forward corps for next season already appears close to set. The team still has $5.1MM in projected cap space, per CapFriendly, but they need a new contract for pending RFA Ty Dellandrea. They’ll also need to replace or re-sign Max Domi, Luke Glendening, and Joel Kiviranta, although youngsters Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque could provide cost-effective solutions in those depth roles.

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