Knights acquire Talented Dadonov from Ottawa for Holden, 3rd Rounder

Using the cap space freed up in yesterday’s shocking trade that sent Marc-Andre Fleury to Chicago Blackhawks, the Vegas Golden Knights added scoring winger Evgenii Dadonov. The Golden Knights acquired the Russian sniper from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Nick Holden and a 2022 3rd round pick.

Dadonov, 32, signed a three-year $15 million deal ($5 million AAV) with Ottawa in 2020. He is long on talent but sometimes short on results. Last season he scored 13 goals and seven assists in 55 games with the rebuilding Ottawa Senators.

His career-best was 2018-19 with the Florida Panthers. Dadonov scored 28 goals and 70 points in 82 games. He reached the 28-goal mark twice in his career.

Dadonov has had two separate stints in the NHL as he split time in the KHL from 2012-2017.

Evgeny Dadonov, traded to VGK, is an all-offence scoring winger. #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/ALcJ7s19c6

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 28, 2021

Over the course of his NHL career, Evgenii Dadonov has been a quiet scorer on some mediocre teams. Playing with the Florida Panthers, he had a career-high 70 points in 2017-18. Expect a top-six role from Dadonov this upcoming season. 

The Russian winger is 32 years old and has two years left on his deal before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2023-24. This addition leaves the Vegas Golden Knights with roughly $2.5 million left in cap space to spend. 

Going the other way to Ottawa will be depth defenseman Nick Holden. Holden, a journeyman NHLer, has been on six teams after his three-year tenure with the Golden Knights. Holden is almost exclusively a defensive defenseman but can chip in 10-15 points per season. Vegas Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon also sent to Ottawa the 2022 3rd round pick acquired in the Nate Schmidt-to-Vancouver deal in Oct. 2020.

Despite outside pressure to add a center, McCrimmon spent about $3.3 million of his Fleury savings on a talented winger. Vegas acquires a veteran winger who still can score. Dadonov, who played six seasons with the Florida Panthers, gets to be on a contending team for the first time in his career.

In 335 career NHL games, Dadonov has 104 goals and 118 assists.