Ryan Donato Wants To Remain in Chicago
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period was on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio Morning Skate with Scott Laughlin and Gord Stellick. He was asked about Ryan Donato and his contract extension with the Chicago Blackhawks.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
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Gord Stellick: “So, a lot of the big trade deadline acquisitions, I mean, will gauge how they play in the playoffs. Like Seth Jones, for example, has been kind of ordinary in Florida and will wonder in the playoffs. The guy that didn’t get traded, I’m kind of curious. He scores twice as Chicago wins 7-4. So Ryan Donato, 29 years old, final year of a two-year, $2 million contract. What 25 goals? It’s like double the best he ever got. And I’m intrigued. I’m surprised they didn’t trade him, because if they don’t sign him, I would have got a future back. But whatever.
I don’t know if that means they’re confident that they can re-up him, but there’s always a tough one to gauge. He seized an opportunity to play on a bad team, and that’s why he’s getting the stats, and it’s a bad team, and it won’t carry on, versus the guy having a bit of a breakout year.
And so I don’t know how much, how intriguing he’ll be for other teams because there are not a lot of big-name free agents out there come July 1st. So, I’m just curious about your take on him: a guy having a good season amidst a team that has very few people having a good personal season?”
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Dave Pagnotta: “Yeah, it hasn’t, across the board, been how I think the Blackhawks anticipated, but Donato is certainly taking advantage of his situation and his opportunity. And I think it’s a combination of that. He just clicked with the guys that he’s playing with, and that’s going to factor in, and he has factored into their negotiations in trying to get him locked up.
They obviously seem confident that they can get something done nearby by July 1 to keep him, or else, I mean, I agree with you, I would have, if they felt some reluctancy or some question marks in terms of getting him inked and that would have gotten some future assets back as well.
But I think they seem confident. But you know it’s going to be, you’re going to take his performance under consideration, based on, again, how he’s played, what he’s done with this opportunity, and that’s going to affect the overall, I think, price tag for him. He likes the situation. He’s mentioned that he wants to stay. I think they’re going to continue to work towards that, to try to lock something in here, to keep him a part of it.
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And Chicago is going to have a very, very busy offseason Gord. I think they’re going to be one of the more active clubs that we’re going to look at, both on the trade front and in free agency, depending on who hits the market July 1. Getting Donato all locked in takes care of some housekeeping.
I think they’re going to obviously try to focus on that until the time comes. But I’m anticipating Chicago being a pretty busy team in June and July.”
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