Evgenii Dadonov was traded to the Montreal Canadiens by the Vegas Golden Knights for Shea Weber on Thursday.
Dadonov, a forward, had 43 points (20 goals, 23 assists) in 78 games for the Golden Knights this season. The 33-year-old was traded by Vegas to the Anaheim Ducks on March 21 for defenseman John Moore, forward Ryan Kesler and a conditional second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft or 2024 NHL Draft, but the NHL voided the trade, saying his contract included a limited no-trade clause that had not been complied with. Dadonov was back in the Golden Knights lineup three days later.
Vegas (43-31-8) missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in its four NHL seasons and hired Bruce Cassidy as coach Tuesday after it fired Peter DeBoer on May 16.
Dadonov signed a three-year, $15 million contract ($5 million average annual value) with the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 15, 2020, which included a limited no-trade clause. He was traded to the Golden Knights by the Senators for defenseman Nick Holden and a third-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft on July 28, 2021. Dadonov can become an unrestricted free agent after next season.
Selected by the Florida Panthers in the third round (No. 71) of the 2007 NHL Draft, Dadonov has 265 points (124 goals, 141 assists) in 413 regular-season games with the Panthers, Senators and Golden Knights. He has one assist in four Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"It's a trade that helps both teams," Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said. "It gives Vegas the flexibility they needed. I think that everybody knows that they needed some flexibility under the salary cap this year. For us, it gives us flexibility in the future, if needed. Also, we bring a player that can help us offensively. I expect us to need to find more flexibility under the salary cap in the next years, so we'll see what happens, but I think that he can help us next season."