Golden Knights await ruling on Evgenii Dadonov trade to Ducks

Evgenii Dadonov remained a lame duck Tuesday, with no resolution to his status while a proposed trade from the Golden Knights to Anaheim was being reviewed by the NHL.

Dadonov remained on the team’s roster and was listed as a scratch for Tuesday’s game at Winnipeg. The organization had no update and said the league continues to review the situation.

A resolution is expected to come Wednesday. The most likely outcome is the trade will be voided, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The Knights were set to ship Dadonov and a conditional 2024 second-round pick to the Ducks before Monday’s trade deadline for defenseman John Moore and the contract of injured forward Ryan Kesler.

The trade was not officially announced Monday until more than four hours after the deadline. The Knights later released a statement during the game at Minnesota that they were made aware of an issue with the trade and were in consultation with the league office.

The problem appears to be with the 10-team, no-trade clause in Dadonov’s contract, and it’s not clear why the league processed the trade.

Dadonov was required to submit his list by July 1 while he was a member of the Ottawa Senators. The Knights acquired Dadonov for defenseman Nick Holden and a 2022 third-round draft pick July 28.

Dadonov’s agent, Maxim Moliver, could not be reached to clarify whether the list was submitted in time and why the Knights and the league did not have a record of it. The belief is that Anaheim was one of the teams to which Dadonov could block a trade, which is causing the holdup.

The last example of an issue with a no-trade clause was St. Louis’ Patrik Berglund, who had a full no-trade clause that moved to a partial no-trade clause.

When Berglund’s agent failed to submit his updated no-trade list during the summer of 2018, the clause was voided and the Blues traded Berglund to Buffalo as part of the deal for standout center Ryan O’Reilly.

Dadonov has one more year left on his contract with a $5 million salary cap hit, and the Knights were hoping to gain more financial flexibility by moving him.

Despite a recent hot streak, Dadonov has underachieved with the Knights. He produced 15 goals and 27 points in 62 appearances.

Without Dadonov, the Knights are projected to use almost $12 million in long-term injured reserve to exceed the cap with more available, according to CapFriendly.com.

That extra cap space would allow the Knights to activate players such as injured forwards Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty and Reilly Smith and defensemen Alec Martinez and Brayden McNabb when they are healthy.

“The rationale behind the move is a number of fronts,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said Monday. “It’s the ability to make a move that’s going to help us manage our salary cap for the remainder of this season, but just as importantly, it also gives us a lot more flexibility heading into the offseason.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.