Photo: NHL via Getty Images
Monday’s NHL trade deadline was a busy one for most of the teams in the league. Trades were announced most of the day and right-up to the 3:00 PM deadline. As usual, a few trickled in after the deadline. The rule, if a trade is submitted to the league office and in the queue before the deadline, then the trade is considered valid. Or is it?
Take the case of Evgenii Dadonov. The Vegas Knights were set to trade Dadonov and a conditional second-round pick to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for John Moore and the contract of retired forward Ryan Kesler.
The trade came in very late, but did indeed beat the deadline, as according to Sportsnet’s’ Elliotte Friedman, the deal was put through before the official deadline.
There were some rumours (I heard them too) that the deal was not in the queue before 3ET — which meant Moore/Dadonov would not have been eligible to play this season. That’s not correct, they can play.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 21, 2022
Dadonov’s current three-year deal states he cannot be traded before being allowed to submit a 10-team no-trade list. According to Friedman, Dadonov’s list was never officially submitted before the trade. As a result, Monday’s deal is now stuck in limbo and may not ultimately go through.
Where this is going: Dadonov was traded to Vegas on July 28. The claim is the paperwork was filed before that. So the questions are: is there documentation and was it disclosed on the July trade call?
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 22, 2022
“We have become aware of an issue with respect to the trade,” the Golden Knights’ tweeted on Monday night. “We have been consulting with the league office. We will provide further information once it becomes available.”
Mondays are the worst
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 22, 2022
As of late Monday night, there appeared to be a stalemate between all parties involved. The case is now being deferred to the NHL/NHLPA for resolution.
Dadonov trade is now officially an NHL/NHLPA issue. Player is adamant no-trade list was filed on-time
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 22, 2022
Vegas was reportedly shopping Dadonov in order to create salary cap space for the potential return of Mark Stone or Alec Martinez from the long-term injured reserve (LTIR). With the Dadonov deal in limbo it’s uncertain if the Knights will have the salary cap space or not.
What get’s traded to Vegas, stays in Vegas? Well, you probably have a better quip to summarize the mess. It will be interesting to see how the issue gets resolved. Will the league bend it’s own rules and allow the trade? (the rest of the league should riot) or is the deal ultimately nullified? Stay tuned.
By Jon Sorensen
