As expected it’s looking more and more like Evgeni Dadonov will be in a Rochester Americans uniform this fall, unless somehow the court system gets involved which is not likely.  Traktor Chelyabinsk, the team Dadonov had been playing for, opened training camp on Thursday and Dadonov was not there.  A sure sign that all of this legal talk has not scared him and that he does want to play in North America.

Andrei Nazarov, headcoach of Traktor, said on Friday that they would sue in the Florida court systems for either Dadonov to return to the team or for the Florida Panthers to compensate for his return.  Nazarov spent two seasons playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning and also told the paper that he has “relationships with local lawyers” and thinks Traktor “has a good chance to win this thing.”

I highly doubt that the Florida Panthers and Dadonov’s agent would have allowed a contract to be signed if there was any doubt about his status to play in North America this season.

I also doubt that any of this is scaring the Panthers organization in any way.

This is all an update from this previous article initially talking about Dadonov signing an entry level contract.

In a previous article I shared my concerns about Dadonov not being ready yet, but upon further research it’s possible that I could be wrong.  He’ll be one of the first players I talk to when the season starts in Rochester.

A month ago we were wondering what the real game plan would be for the Florida Panthers and Rochester Americans during free agency and I think it’s safe to say both teams have exceeded our expectations (at least for the expected lineup in Rochester).