On the simple importance of Evgenii Dadonov to the Dallas Stars

Evgenii Dadonov iced the Dallas Stars 5-2 victory against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday with a simple flip of the puck over Barclay Goodrow.

With an empty net, the Sharks forward actually did a decent job in his street-hockey goalie stance, before the Stars forward lobbed it over Gooddrow’s right skate.

Nothing exciting, but simple execution to help finalize a victory.

It’s a goal that somewhat represents what Dadonov has meant to the Stars since he arrived in a trade on February 26, 2023, a one-for-one exchange for Denis Gurianov from the Montreal Canadiens.

Gurianov was chaos and what-if excitement. He scored the goal that sent the Stars to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020 and had all the physical “video game” skills you could stuff into a player, which is why the Stars took him in the first round way back in 2015.

He was flash and dash — and the source of one of the best Twitter bits — but the Stars were searching for more substance, more of a high floor than what-if ceiling player when they flipped the younger Russian for Dadonov.

Two seasons later Gurianov is now back in the KHL with CSKA Moscow, having done a mini tour of the NHL during the 2023-24 season with the Nashville Predators and Philadelphia Flyers.

Dadonov is still in Dallas, effectively working as a utility-type forward that can move up and down the lineup as needed.

Dadonov, who played for Pete DeBoer before with both the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights, has averaged 14 minutes, 15 seconds per game this season, ninth amongst Stars forwards, and has eight points in his last 12 games after a slow offensive start to the season.

“I like the way Pete is able to move him in and out of slots, the lines don’t really matter with him,” an NHL scout told me this week. “One of the challenges in the NHL, I think, is slotting guys the right way, and it helps when you have a guy that lets you experiment.”

To further the scout’s point, Dadonov has an identity but doesn’t need a set role based on line or placement on the depth chart. This has allowed the Stars to effectively test things with Mavrik Bourque and Oskar Bäck in different spaces, while also using Dadonov as a fill-in on the top line with Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz.

Dadonov has played “regularly” with five different line combinations this season, of those lines only one (Dadonov with Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston) has given up more scoring chances than they’ve generated.

That’s partially the mark of a good team, and the Stars are one, but it’s also reflective of what Dadonov represents as a steadying, unflashy piece of whichever trio he’s on.

Dadonov is also having more defensive success, statistically, than any forward in the NHL right now. Amongst forwards that have played at least 200 minutes of even strength hockey, Dadonov has been on the ice for only two goals against.

Once again, it goes back to simplicity and stability with Dadonov, which for the Stars is a valuable resource, particularly heading into this weekend against more chaotic teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes.