Senators Trade Evgenii Dadonov to Golden Knights for Nick Holden, 2022 Third
Ottawa gets their blueliner.
The Ottawa Senators have traded winger Evgenii Dadonov to the Vegas Golden Knights, in exchange for defenceman Nick Holden, and a third-round draft pick in 2022.
TRADE ALERT: The #Sens have acquired defenceman Nick Holden and a third-round draft pick in 2022 (which originated with the @Canucks) from the @GoldenKnights in exchange for forward Evgenii Dadonov. pic.twitter.com/8ZdIv0OBjN
— Sens Communications (@Media_Sens) July 28, 2021
The move comes on the heels of the 32 year-old Dadonov being exposed in the Seattle Expansion Draft, while heading into the second of a three-year deal with the Senators, at an annual cap hit of $5 million per. Despite Ottawa general manager Pierre Dorion hinting at giving Dadonov another year to rebound, the Senators clearly wanted to get out from under his contract.
It was a disappointing year for the Chelyabinsk, Russia native, who only scored 13 goals and seven assists through 55 games, after being brought in to add some much-needed firepower to the Ottawa lineup. Dadonov most glaringly only chipped in one point on the powerplay, and was relegated to a bottom six role for most of the season.
The 34 year-old Holden played just 17 games for the Golden Knights during the regular season, spending most of the campaign on injured reserve. A native of St. Albert, Alberta, Holden tallied two goals and five assists in 15 games on Vegas’ run to the Stanley Cup semifinal, where they were defeated in six games by the Montreal Canadiens.
Holden entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and has also split his 513 NHL games with the Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers, and Boston Bruins. He signed wiith Vegas on July 1st, 2018, and was inked to a two-year, $3.4 million extension at last year’s trade deadline.
The 6’4, 214lb left-handed defender has one year remaining on his deal, at a cap hit of $1.7 million, and $1.4 million in real money.
The pick, originally belonging to the Vancouver Canucks, was acquired by the Golden Knights on October 12th, 2020, in exchange for defenceman Nate Schmidt.