The Ottawa Senators’ first-round pick in this year’s NHL Draft has been restored. The league on Thursday decided to modify its punishment for the organization’s handling of the Evgenii Dadonov trade to the Vegas Golden Knights in July 2021, which led to an invalidated trade between Vegas and the Anaheim Ducks in 2022.
The Senators initially were stripped of a first-round pick in either the 2024, 2025 or 2026 draft for not informing Vegas of Dadonov’s limited no-trade clause. The Senators deferred the penalty until this season. Now, Ottawa will have the final pick of the first round this year, but the pick cannot be traded or transferred to another team. The Senators will also pay a $1 million (CDN) fine, which will be given to NHL Foundation Canada.
The Senators lobbied the NHL for a softer punishment, and in its announcement of the modification of the punishment, the league cited a “change in club ownership and oversight which, in the club’s view, changed the appropriateness of the penalty initially imposed.”
Pierre Dorion, the Senators’ general manager at the time of the trades, was fired in November 2023, and then-owner Eugene Melnyk died in March 2022.
“We fully accept the modified sanctions the league has imposed today,” Senators owner Michael Andlauer said in a statement. “We are grateful for the league and commissioner keeping an open mind on this issue and modifying the penalty. The Senators organization is appreciative the fine money will be directed to the NHL Foundation Canada, to help grow the sport in our country. We consider this matter closed and will have no further comments on the situation.”
Dadonov’s contract with Ottawa, signed in October 2020, included a 10-team no-trade clause. The Golden Knights weren’t on that no-trade list, but Vegas’ subsequent attempt to trade Dadonov to Anaheim was nullified by the NHL because of the no-trade clause. The Ducks were on Dadonov’s no-trade list, but the Golden Knights were unaware that Dadonov even had one.
In 2023, it was revealed that the Senators were under investigation for the handling of the Dadonov trade. On Nov. 1, 2023, the NHL announced its punishment of the Senators, and Dorion was subsequently relieved of his duties in favor of current GM Steve Staios. Andlauer took over as majority owner in September 2023, purchasing the team for $950 million U.S. When Andlauer learned about the botched Dadonov trade, he said he was made to believe it was a “non-issue.”
“Why I inherited this is beyond me,” Andlauer said after it was announced the Senators would lose a first-round pick.
Now, the Senators will draft at No. 32, whether they make the playoffs or not. If Ottawa misses the postseason, it will not be eligible to win the draft lottery. If Ottawa does win the lottery, it will result in a redraw. The Senators are currently five points out of a playoff spot with 18 games remaining in their season.
There is some precedent for modified punishments. In 2014, the NHL reduced a penalty against the New Jersey Devils, who had been accused of attempting to circumvent the salary cap when they signed Ilya Kovalchuk in 2010. The league restored a first-round pick to the Devils and cited, in part, the team’s new ownership (as well as Kovalchuk’s decision to leave the NHL). The Devils also had a $3 million fine reduced to a $1.5 million fine and lost a third-round draft pick.