NHL veteran surprises everyone as he reportedly leaves the league

Evgenii Dadonov's run in the NHL might be over, and his final stop with the New Jersey Devils barely registered.

He played just 24 games with New Jersey last season, managing a single goal and finishing at minus-6.

That's a brutal number to hit unrestricted free agency with, especially for a 37-year-old winger.

Across his full NHL career, Dadonov put up 164 goals and 198 assists for 362 points in 641 games, a genuine top-six scorer for most of that run.

He topped 40 points in six different seasons, including three straight years with Florida from 2017 to 2020 where he never dipped below 65 points.

None of that history is translating into market interest right now. There's unsurprisingly very little pulling him back for an NHL contract this summer.

A Russian report out of Championat indicates Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL is interested in bringing him back, and the feeling reportedly goes both ways.

Traktor Chelyabinsk talks heat up as NHL interest cools

The KHL isn't unfamiliar territory for Dadonov. He broke in with Chelyabinsk Traktor as an 18-year-old back in the 2005-06 season.

He spent parts of eight seasons over there before ever suiting up in the NHL, including a strong stretch with St. Petersburg SKA from 2014 to 2017.

Returning to Traktor now would close the loop on a career that started in that same organization two decades ago.

Would one more KHL run be a step back, or just a practical landing spot for a player the NHL has clearly moved past?

Dadonov bounced between five different NHL organizations over his final six seasons, a sign the league had already started treating him as replaceable depth.

The move back to Russia isn't official yet, but a mutual interest report is usually the last step before a deal actually gets done.

If this is really it for his NHL career, it ends quietly, 24 games and one goal, a modest final line for a player who once scored 30 in a season.