Florida Panthers 2007 draft pick Evgeni Dadonov scored a goal and added 2 assists in a 5-2 win tonight over Finland. In fact, the line of Evgeni Dadonov, Nikita Klyukin and Dmitri Klopov combined for 9 points in tonight's relative easy win. Nearly halfway through the first period, Evgeni raced to the puck near the half wall and then fired a wrist-shot top shelf over the outstretched glove of Finnish netminder Harri Sateri, which at the time, gave Russia a 2-1 lead (Russia never looked back from there).
Dadonov currently plays for Traktor Chelyabinsk in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League, now his third season with the team. This is also the 2nd consecutive year Dadonov has represented Russia in the World Juniors. While he failed to record a point in last year's World Juniors, Dadonov already has notched 4 points (G, 3 A) in 2 games. Russia, who dominated Latvia 4-1 on Friday (the opening day of World Juniors action), will take on Slovakia on Tuesday.
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Dadonov's line was Russia's most consistent throughout the tournament, in my opinion. Mostly tasked with shutting down the other team's top line (certainly effective in that role against Tavares and Canada), they often created some offense as well. Dadonov is probably the most NHL-viable prospect because of his offensive upside, but I have to say that I was very impressed by the strong two-way play of Klyukin. He could become a solid checking line center in the NHL one day, if he had any desire to come over and an NHL team had the foresight to bring him over. It'll be interesting to see what Florida's plans are for Dadonov. Also, it's rather obvious at this point but I'll say it anyway, Grachev is going to be a star in the NHL, what a player.
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