The Florida Panthers signed KHL star Evgeny Dadonov to a three-year contract, the team announced Saturday. Dadonov last played in the NHL for the Panthers back in 2012 before leaving for Russia.
Panthers sign KHL star Evgeny Dadonov to 3-year contract
Dadonov starred on a stacked SKA St. Petersburg team last season.
Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images
The deal includes an annual cap hit of $4 million, as TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported on Friday night.
Dadonov, 28, was originally drafted by the Panthers in the third round of the 2007 NHL Draft. He split the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons between the NHL and AHL, but never established himself in Florida. In the summer of 2012, he left for the KHL, signing with Donbass Donetsk.
In the KHL, a league that’s a tier below the NHL, Dadonov proved to be a high-level scorer. His production steadily improved over five seasons, peaking in 2016-17 with a career-high 30 goals and 36 assists over 53 games with SKA Saint Petersburg. That team also included Ilya Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk, Nikita Gusev, and Vadim Shipachyov.
Shipachyov signed with the Golden Knights in April, and now Dadonov has joined him in North America. Kovalchuk has still left the door open to a move, as well, while Gusev’s NHL rights were acquired by the Golden Knights during the expansion draft.
Dadonov won’t be putting up the same kinds of numbers with the Panthers, but as we’ve seen with guys such as Artemi Panarin and Nikita Zaitsev, there are quality players to come out of the KHL recently. For the Panthers, who have remade their roster aggressively this offseason following front office changes, Dadonov will be one of the summer’s biggest additions.
See More:
