Stu Cowan: Canadiens counts game points to exit for Dadonov

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SAINT PAUL, Minnesota — After the Canadiens beat the Blues 7-4 in St. Louis on Saturday, Evgenii Dadonov was spotted by members of the Montreal media talking to GM Kent Hughes in the hallway between the locker room and the coaching room.

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Dadonov was one of three forwards to make a healthy scratch for the game, along with Jonathan Drouin and Rem Pitlick.

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The Canadians had Sunday off and when they practiced in St. Louis on Monday before flying to Minnesota, Dadonov was not on the ice. Chantal Machabée, the team’s vice president of communications, described it as a “maintenance day” for Dadonov.

When head coach Martin St. Louis was asked a few questions about Dadonov after Monday’s practice, he lost patience with reporters for the first time since taking over the team in February.

“Listen guys, he wasn’t on the ice today,” St. Louis said. “Chantal told you (why). So stop it.”

When asked if anything happened to Dadonov between Saturday and Monday that prevented him from practicing, St. Louis said, “I don’t know. He wasn’t ready to train today.”

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Dadonov was not among the 16 players who participated in the optional morning ice skating session at the Xcel Energy Center. The team said it had been a “therapy day” for him and that the situation was no big deal. Dadonov won’t be in the lineup against the Wild on Tuesday night, nor will Mike Hoffman and Michael Pezzetta, while Drouin and Pitlick come back in. St. Louis would only say that Dadonov was “unavailable” to play.

Since he took over as head coach, St. Louis has spoken more than once about how he can relate to what every player goes through, based on his experience as a player who wasn’t drafted and was put on waivers to which was sent to minors, played on the fourth and first lines and ended up in the Hall of Fame. St. Louis also asked to be traded out of Tampa Bay after former Lightning GM Steve Yzerman originally dropped him from Team Canada’s roster for the Sochi 2014 Olympics. St. Louis eventually made the Olympic team as an injury replacement for Steven Stamkos, but less than two weeks after Team Canada won the gold medal, St. Louis got their wish and was traded to the New York Rangers.

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A trade would be best for Dadonov at this point as he has no future with the Canadiens beyond this season when the 33-year-old becomes an unrestricted free agent. The fact that Dadonov has a $5 million salary cap (he actually earns $6.5 million) and has no points in eight games, along with a minus-3 differential, doesn’t help his situation.

“Sure I can understand that,” St. Louis said when asked about the current situation for veteran players like Dadonov who aren’t in the lineup. “Sometimes you just feel like it’s almost slipping away. That’s why I say, especially during your career, it’s such a short window of opportunity for your career and your mind needs to be stronger than your feelings because it’s easy to get lost in your feelings.

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“So I understand the guys are feeling a certain way… disappointed. I get it and they should be. If not, I’m worried. Then you have your moment of disappointment, but after that your sanity has to come and fight those feelings and take responsibility to get back on the lineup. And also when you come back affect it’s hard for the coach to get you out. We wouldn’t necessarily have these scenarios if we had 13 forwards. But with 15 mostly healthy guys, those are tough choices.”

When Hughes traded the final four years of Shea Weber’s contract (his $7.857 million salary cap hit doesn’t count as he remains on long-term injury reserve) to the Vegas Golden Knights this summer, he had to take a step back and do it was Dadonov. Hughes would no doubt be happy to trade Dadonov at some point, but there’s no guarantee another team will want him.

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It will be interesting to see how this situation develops when the Canadians carry 15 forwards and just six defenders, with Mike Matheson and Joel Edmundson injured.

“I think everyone in that locker room knows they bring something,” St. Louis said. “Everyone has value. It’s not that they’re not (off the lineup), that they don’t have value. It is their responsibility to keep increasing their values. The next opportunity they get in the game is to work on their value and make it difficult for the coaches.”

Captain Nick Suzuki noted that without Dadonov, Drouin and Pitlick, the Canadiens still had a strong forward lineup against the Blues, a sign of their strength. The Canadiens scored a season-high seven goals in St. Louis.

“We have talent up front across the line-up,” Suzuki said after the game. “That’s why we have 15 strikers with us. That’s kind of unheard of. If you’re in the lineup, you’ve got to earn your spot. The internal competition is there and the guys want to stay in the line-up.”

This includes Dadonov.

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