The Blackhawks decided to keep Ryan Donato through the NHL trade deadline Friday.
Donato’s impressive play all season, which had only gotten better and better recently, generated lots of buzz and interest around the league all week. The Hawks’ asking price was reportedly a first-round pick.
In the end, they decided to keep their leading goal-scorer, and they will likely try to work out a new contract with the 28-year-old forward — a pending unrestricted free agent — before July.
Donato has enjoyed a fantastic season with 46 points — 23 goals and 23 assists — in 60 games, having already exceeded his previous career high of 31 points. He has 20 games left to add to those totals.
Consistent work ethic has accompanied his productivity, and he has said all the right things about being invested in the Hawks’ rebuild and wanting to help them build a winning culture. It was evident Wednesday against the Senators that the Hawks’ offense essentially runs through Donato right now with Connor Bedard in a slump.
“‘Dono’ works his butt off every single game,” veteran forward Pat Maroon said. “He gives 110%, and he gets rewarded by doing that. He’s a hell of a player. He deserves everything he’s got right now, and he’s getting rewarded by it. He’s a guy that probably a lot of these guys should look at. He’s just a hard working guy that continues to do it every single night.”
Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson made two other trades Friday instead, acquiring Joe Veleno from the Red Wings for Petr Mrazek and Craig Smith and acquiring Shea Weber’s contract and two low-level prospects from Utah for a draft pick.