New Jersey Devils: 5 Right Wings To Target In Free Agency

Evgenii Dadonov

This is the most obvious player on the list and the one we want the most possible on any list we do for free agency. The Florida Panthers’ right winger is one of the more underrated players in the league. Dadonov put together three amazing seasons since coming over from Russia. He peaked in 2018-19 with 70 points and ended this season with 47 in 69 games. He’s a lock for 50 points in a healthy season, but he already proved he could do 70.

The Devils desperately need finishers on this team. They have plenty of people who can set others up, as well as a lot of center prospects who do the same. What they need in free agency is to find a goal scorer. Dadonov has at least 25 goals in each of his three seasons.

The Devils already have Nikita Gusev on the team, who played with Dadonov on SKA St. Petersburg in 2017. They were top scorers on one of the top teams in Russia. Now, the Devils hope they can replicate their production while wearing red and black. Honestly, if the Devils sign Dadonov to a long-term deal, it could help the Devils re-sign Gusev to longer than his current deal, which only has one more year left on it.

This would be the perfect move for the Devils. Dadonov is a scorer who also helps make their other Russian scorer happy. It’s hard to tell what Gusev thinks of the Devils after he was jerked around the lineup, benched for a few weeks, and endured a lot of losing and two different head coaches. Maybe adding another Russian who he can build chemistry with off the ice. This just makes sense on just about every front, and honestly, it feels like it could actually happen. The Devils have the money to sign Dadonov that a lot of teams won’t, and they have the spot available in the top six.