Florida Panthers: Recapping Evgenii Dadonov's Career Year

Following a highly successful 2018 season with the Florida Panthers, Evgenii Dadonov entered the 2019 season with reasonably high expectations. How would the Russian-born winger perform?

Acquired from SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, Evgenii Dadonov reunited with the Florida Panthers during the summer of 2018.

General Manager Dale Tallon inked “Dad” to a three-year contract worth $4 million annually. This would essentially be Dadonov’s second stint with the Florida Panthers in his return to the National Hockey League.

In essence, Dadonov demonstrated that he certainly belonged in the NHL, having a career season in 2018 for the Cats.

In 74 regular-season games, Dadonov registered 28G, 37A, for 65 points. Ultimately, Dadonov proved himself as a highly talented point-producing winger for the Florida Panthers.

The 2019 NHL season was the year in which the budding star solidified himself as a premier scoring talent in the NHL.

While participating in all 82 regular-season contests, the native of Russia recorded a sensational slash line of 28G, 42A, for 70 points.

The recently turned 30-year-old displayed his true potential while playing alongside superstars Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov.

The top line of Huberdeau-Barkov-Dadonov was arguably one of the best lines in the entire league, producing over 250 points combined as a unit.

This aforementioned trio – including superstar sniper Mike Hoffman and 3x all-star defenseman Keith Yandle – helped form the 2nd best power-play unit in the entire National Hockey League. Regarding Dadonov’s PP contributions, he recorded an adequate line of 8G, 9A, for 17 points.

In essence, Dadonov was a consistent winger on even strength and the power play, thus demonstrating the overlooked value he provides on a nightly basis.

Moreover, Dadonov’s phenomenal offensive contributions are frequently overlooked because of Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov, both of whom are Dadonov’s superb linemates. However, in a sense, it could be said that Dadonov is just as valuable as those two.

Additionally, Dadonov plays a highly disciplined style of hockey, registering only 16 combined penalty minutes over the past two seasons.

His outstanding discipline helped earn himself top minutes, averaging nearly 18 and a half minutes of ice time per game. Essentially, Dadonov doesn’t commit costly, boneheaded penalties and averaged only 0.72 giveaways per game.

In essence, Dadonov has fully developed into an incredibly skilled two-way winger. “Dad” rarely turns the puck over and takes his responsibilities on the defensive end of the ice quite seriously.

In fact, Dadonov even recorded a significantly better plus/minus than his fellow linemates. Dadonov’s combined plus/minus rating of +4 over the past two seasons indicates that he’s clearly reliable defensively, as well.

Also, Dadonov’s incredible chemistry with Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov is simply unmatched. All three players benefitted tremendously by playing alongside one another, as evidenced by the star-level results.

With only one year remaining on Dadonov’s current contract, the Panthers should undoubtedly prioritize signing the Russian winger to an extension in the upcoming offseason.

It’s absolutely imperative that Dadonov is locked up long term because he provides a crucial, irreplaceable two-way style of hockey from the wing position.

Florida Panthers: Recapping Evgenii Dadonov’s Career Year

By Sam Golub | Apr 17, 2019

Following a highly successful 2018 season with the Florida Panthers, Evgenii Dadonov entered the 2019 season with reasonably high expectations. How would the Russian-born winger perform?