The Evgenii Dadonov debacle: What we know so far
The deadline-day trade between the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks started innocently enough. Vegas, looking to perform some salary-cap Cirque de Solei, traded right winger Evgenii Dadonov and a conditional 2024 second-round pick to Anaheim for defenseman John Moore and the LTIR-stashable contract of Ryan Kesler, who hasn’t played in the NHL since 2018-19 due to a career-ending hip injury.
As minutes turned to hours following the 3:00 p.m. ET trade deadline yesterday, however, whispers trickled in about a snafu in the trade call. Was the deal actually legal? As reported by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, Dadonov, who carries a $5-million AAV, has a 10-team no-trade list, and the Ducks are on it.
The debacle, as broken down in tweets from Seravalli Monday night:
I’m told #VGK claim they did not receive it from #Sens. Either way, #NHLDucks are supposedly on Dadonov’s original 10-team “no” list, which should have blocked trade. I’d imagine there would be sufficient electronic evidence to prove original list was submitted to #Sens on-time
All of which is said to say, it’s 11:20 pm ET and there is still a Deadline Day trade that hangs in the balance from the 3 pm ET deadline. And it’s actually critical to #VGK for salary cap purposes moving forward. Not an easy spot for Dadonov, too, who earned the clause.
Of course, if all of the above is true, the ultimate responsibility is borne on #VGK make sure that 1) they are in receipt of the list and 2) the list is on file with the NHL. After all, that Dadonov had a 10-team NTC is not a secret - it’s listed on @PuckPedia and @CapFriendly.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, “The trade is now officially an NHL/NHLPA issue” and Dadonov insists his no-trade list was submitted on time.
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