Today the NHL finally announced that the Vegas Golden Knights’ trade of Evgenii Dadonov to the Anaheim Ducks has been invalidated.
The @NHL announced today that it has invalidated Monday’s trade of Evgenii Dadonov from the @GoldenKnights to the @AnaheimDucks. https://t.co/fKiy112jTR pic.twitter.com/fILdMfzKS6
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 23, 2022
As previously reported, Dadonov had a 10-team limited no-trade clause which was submitted to the Ottawa Senators prior to his trade to Vegas last summer.
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Evgenii Dadonov trade in dispute due to potential violation of no-trade clause, per reports
The NHL hasn’t released any information besides the statement on the trade being invalidated, and it calls into question how the league approved the trade in the first place given the fact Dadonov’s clause. None of that matters now, and attention will shift to what happens next for the Golden Knights.
What’s next for Evgenii Dadonov?
The expectation is he will be mvoed to another team that is not in playoff contention, in that he would not play the rest of the season. The price that it would take VGK to pay for Dadonov is going to be interesting, to say the least.
— Danny Webster (@DannyWebster21) March 23, 2022
As things stand, the Golden Knights are in a dire cap crunch and will be unable to activate any injured players without clearing cap space. The trade deadline has come and gone, and they are able to make trades, but any player traded at this point would be ineligible for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs.
It remains an awkward situation for Dadonov as well because he remains in the middle as a player with a team that no longer wanted him. Although, to that point, the team released a statement that pretty much amounts to the organization recognizing what happened.
The Vegas Golden Knights recognize the league’s decision and welcome Evgenii back to our club. #VegasBorn
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 23, 2022
This year he’s tallied 15 goals and 12 assists for 27 points in 62 games, including three goals in the final two games before the deadline. Ideally he’d love to get a fresh start with a new team next season, but unless there’s some special exception, he can’t play for any team other than Vegas.
And to that point, if Dadonov isn’t in the team’s future plans, there’s no reason for them to willing play him the rest of the season, even if he is welcome back to the club, because if he were to get injured that would make trading him during the offseason that much more difficult.
There’s also the fact of leverage. If Vegas were to attempt to trade Dadonov, or someone else for that matter, the teams they talk to could ask for an exorbitant package to help them clear much needed cap space. You are potentially talking about prospects, future draft picks, and potentially much, much more.
A team like the Arizona Coyotes could help out here because of their vast amount of cap space, but to that point the Golden Knights would need to confirm they are one of the teams not on his no-trade list.
No matter how you slice it, this is a very embarrassing situation for the Golden Knights and the NHL. It is also an unfortunate one for Dadonov who is caught in the middle for the time being. Given the magnitude of this situation there’s bound to be additional information and attention on what happens next, so stay tuned for more information and updates as it becomes available.