The first big trade of the offseason has arrived, with the Vegas Golden Knights dealing winger Evgenii Dadonov to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Shea Weber.
While on paper there are some big names involved in this deal, it is mostly just cap wiggling for both teams. The Montreal Canadiens were looking to offload Weber’s contract, which still has four years left at a $7,857,143 cap hit, while the Vegas Golden Knights needed to clear up cap space, and Dadonov’s contract at a $5 million cap hit with one year left is one they didn’t need. They infamously tried to deal him to the Anaheim Ducks at the trade deadline, but that deal was nixed due to the Ducks being on Dadonov’s no-trade list that the Golden Knights claimed they didn’t get from the Ottawa Senators when they acquired him in the 2021 offseason.
For Montreal, they get a 33-year-old winger who still has something left in him. He struggled early on in Vegas, but finished the season with 20 goals and 43 points in 78 games, and will at the very least be a warm body for a Canadiens team looking to improve on one of the worst seasons in their franchise’s history.
For Vegas, they get cap space. While Weber’s contract is pricier on paper, he will likely never play again due to injuries, so he can sit on long-term injured reserve and give the Golden Knights some much needed cap space.
Both Weber and Dadonov were on Frank Seravalli’s trade targets list for the offseason. Dadonov ranked 14th, while Weber was 20th on the list.
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