Who Should the Ottawa Senators Protect? Austin Watson or Evgenii Dadonov
By Daniel Bruce
Why Protect Dadonov?
With Dadonov carrying a $5 million dollar cap hit over the next two seasons combined with his subpar production last season (13 goals, 7 assists), fans are ready to get his contract off the books, and here’s why I don’t agree with this frame of mind:
- Despite Dadonov’s deficiencies in the box score, his underlying numbers were some of the best on the team. Here are his ranks compared to his teammates:
- 51.96 CF% (4th)
- 50.06 xGF% (5th)
- 2.33 xGA/60 (13th)
These numbers show Dadonov did a great job driving possession and he was certainly a useful player at even strength, plus, it can’t be debated that Dadonov didn’t make the Senators a better team.
2. Dadonov was quite good at 5v5, his numbers above point to that and so does his production at even strength. His 17 points ranked 6th on the team and he was surprisingly tied with one of the Senators’ most productive forwards, Drake Batherson.
3. The line of Nick Paul, Colin White, and Dadonov formed a solid third line for most of the season, with the defensive acumen of both Paul and White, having a player that can drive possession on their right flank made perfect sense, and they performed quite well together.
4. Lastly, Dadonov’s $5 million cap hit shouldn’t affect the Senators’ future plans as it’s highly unlikely they spend near the cap in the next two seasons, so playing out the next two seasons on his contract should be an easy decision.
All of this data points to Dadonov still being an effective NHLer, there’s one worry, however, and it’s one that has rightfully been the main gripe with the Russian sniper, he registered only 1 powerplay point (an assist) after he was brought in prior to the season to bolster the Senators powerplay. If he can return to any semblance of the powerplay performer he was in Florida, he can be a helpful hand on the second powerplay unit, while contributing nicely at even strength.