July 04, 2012 10:29 AM
According to a report from Yahoo! Sports, Checkers winger Evgenii Dadonov has signed a contract with Donbass of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Following in the footsteps of goalie Mike Murphy, who signed a two-year deal with Spartak Moscow in May, Dadonov, 23, becomes the second Carolina Hurricanes restricted free agent to join a team in the Russian league. The Hurricanes will retain the North American rights to both players, having presented each with a qualifying offer last month.
After joining the Checkers in a January trade with the Florida Panthers that also brought A.J. Jenks into the fold in exchange for Jon Matsumoto and prospect Mattias Lindstrom, Dadonov scored 19 points in 35 games. His 16 assists during that span were second only to Bobby Sanguinetti and Chris Terry among all Checkers skaters.
Dadonov’s return home does not come as a surprise to the Hurricanes, who were unable to confirm the report but were fully expecting the 5-foot-11, 185-pound forward to return home this summer. Dadonov had initially requested a trade from the Panthers, the team that selected him in the third-round of the 2007 draft, after finding his NHL opportunities limited. Following the trade, Dadonov, who had previously appeared in a total of 55 NHL games over three seasons with Florida, did not earn a recall to Carolina.
The departure of Dadonov leaves the Hurricanes with eight unrestricted free agents and four restricted free agents from last year’s team. A full list can be viewed here. |
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