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:
Dadonov situation, as best I can glean/understand: Dadonov seems to have properly filed 10-team NTC list with #Sens before July 1, 2021 due date.#Sens traded Dadonov to #VGK on July 28, 2021. Was the list, which was still valid, passed along to #VGK on trade call?
1/3
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 22, 2022
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
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 22, 2022
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.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 22, 2022
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.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 22, 2022
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.