The Canadiens traded forward Evgenii Dadonov to the Dallas Stars for fellow forward Denis Gurianov on Sunday.
Dadonov, 33, has only been passing through Montreal. Acquired last summer, he scored 18 points (4 goals, 14 assists) in 50 games. His contract, worth $5 million a year, expires at the end of this season. The Canadiens will retain 50% of Dadonov’s salary by the end of the season.
Gurianov is 25 years old. Choice of 1er turn 12e in total, in 2015, he was limited to 9 points (2 goals, 7 assists) in 43 games this season. However, he only scored on 2.9% of his shots, well below his average of 10.6% over the previous three years. This kind of statistic sometimes announces an upcoming upward correction.
His contract also expires at the end of the season, but Gurianov will become a restricted free agent. It has an impact of 2.9 million under the cap.
PHOTO JEROME MIRON, USA TODAY SPORTS ARCHIVES
Denis Gurianov (34) will become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
The Habs therefore add $400,000 to their payroll with this transaction (2.9 from Gurianov and 2.5 from Dadonov, for a total of 5.4 million).
The Togliatti athlete had his most productive season in terms of points in 2021, registering 30 points, including 12 goals, in 55 games. The previous year, he had reached the 20-goal mark for the first and only time in his career.
Since then, however, its rate of production has slowed. He amassed 31 points last season, but in 73 games. Its usage time has also dropped year on year, from 15:51 in 2021, to 14:11 last year, to 12:08 this season.
Gurianov distinguished himself in the 2020 playoffs, in the bubble in Edmonton, by collecting 17 points, including 9 goals, in 27 games to help the Stars reach the final, where they lost to the Lightning.
Despite an imposing size (6 ft 3, 205 lb), Gurianov is not inclined towards robustness, he who has only distributed 23 hits this season.
In Dallas, Dadonov will reconnect with head coach Peter DeBoer, who coached him with the Golden Knights last season.
Recall that the Canadian acquired Dadonov last June, in exchange for the last four years of Shea Weber’s contract. As soon as he arrived in Montreal, he was seen as a potential candidate for a transaction. His name has often been linked to the Winnipeg Jets, but they found backup on the wing in Nino Niederreiter on Saturday.