Evgenii Dadonov is one of the more underrated players in the league. Players like Aaron Ekblad, Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Mike Hoffman get a lot of attention on the Florida Panthers. Meanwhile, Dadonov has scored at least 25 goals in each of the last three years. Over that three year stretch, he has scored at a 30-goal and 66-points per 82 games pace.

He’s arguably the top-scoring winger on the market and has received little attention to this point. Prior to hiring Bill Zito, it appeared as though Dadonov was headed to free agency with the Panthers’ desire to shed salary. We’ll see if that plan changes under new management.

Scoring Winger

The Russian-born winger would fit a need on the Sabres for a variety of reasons. He fits the need to find offense at right-wing. Sam Reinhart is the only right-winger that is a legitimate scoring threat on the roster. Dadonov is also a play-driving winger and as you’ll see below in Micah McCurdy’s chart below, he has a big impact on scoring rates. He’s not only a goal scorer, but he can generate offense for his linemates as well. According to Corey Sznjader’s tracking data, he was slightly above league average among forwards this season with 9.28 primary shot assists per 60 minutes.

ALEKSANDER BARKOV SLAMS HOME EVGENII DADONOV’S PASS, 1-0 PANTHERS! 100TH CAREER GOAL FOR BARKOV! pic.twitter.com/6GxdDNqmE2

— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) April 6, 2018

Another area that Dadonov checks the box is being a strong 5 on 5 producer. Over the last three years, he’s ranked 28th among all forwards to play at least 300 minutes in points per 60 minutes (2.27) at 5 on 5. The Sabres ranked 28th in goals for per 60 minutes as a team at 5 on 5, according to the twins’ site.

Why it Won’t Happen

The slight downfall with Dadonov is his age. He’s 31-years-old and will likely be looking for a long-term deal on the open market. Evolving Hockey projects him to receive a six-year deal with a $7 million cap hit. That term may be a bit much for the Sabres to invest in, but the twins project his second most likely contract to be a five-year deal with a $6.6 million annual average value. That’s something the Sabres could be more willing to swallow.

At the end of the day, forget if Dadonov may have an interest in playing for the Sabres. It’s unlikely they’ll have an interest in the player. Russian players don’t have a lot of recent success in Buffalo and those that have played here haven’t spoken fondly of their time on the way out.

Recent failed experiments of Russian players include Mikhail Grigorenko, Victor Antipin, and Dmitry Kulikov. The Sabres have selected only one Russian-born player in the NHL Draft since 2012 (Vasily Glotov).

It’s a shame because Dadonov is a good player that would be a nice fit in the Sabres top six. He’s the type of 5 on 5 scorer they need to help them become a competitive team again.

Data via: Hockeyviz.com, Evolving Hockey, and Corey Sznjader

Photo Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports