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The best player on the Chicago Blackhawks as of late has been Ryan Donato — and it isn't close. Currently first on the team in goals with 23 and third in scoring with 46 points in 60 games, his trade value has skyrocketed in 2025.
But that doesn't mean that general manager Kyle Davidson will be moving on from the pending unrestricted free agent between now and the 3 p.m. ET NHL Trade Deadline — at least according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.
“There's extension talks going on between the Blackhawks and pending UFA Ryan Donato, let's see if Chicago can extend him today,” the hockey insider reported on Friday morning. “If not, the Hawks have been telling teams all week they need to be blown away to move him.”
Although there was an expectation that the rebuilding club would move on from Donato — especially considering his pending UFA status — that might no longer be the case.
The 28-year-old is in the midst of a career year, and he just keeps on producing for a lowly Blackhawks team. His previous personal best in points in a season was 31, a number he has already blown out of the water.
Maybe the most impressive part of his 2024-25 campaign is the fact that he hasn't had a dramatic increase in playing time. Although he's a fixture on the top powerplay unit, he's only seeing 15:30 of ice time per night while playing on a line with Ilya Mikheyev and Teuvo Teravainen.
Donato wasn't tendered by the Seattle Kraken back in 2022, and joined the Hawks on a two-year, $4 million contract. That is looking like a bargain this season, and the Scituate, Massachusetts native should command a nice raise on his next deal.
As Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli reported earlier this week, Davidson and the front office are looking for a first-round pick in any potential deal. Although that seems lofty considering he's always been a depth piece, he has emerged into a legitimate top-six threat in 2024-25.
Even if Donato and the Blackhawks don't agree to a deal sometime in the next five hours, it looks like there's at least a chance he will remain with Chicago for the rest of this season. He could be kept on the roster and then re-signed over the summer.
At 19-35-8 and dead last in the Central Division — and with Seth Jones traded to the Florida Panthers — Donato's play has arguably been the best part of another miserable campaign in the Windy City. That's especially true considering sophomore phenom Connor Bedard doesn't have a point in his last seven games.
It'll be intriguing to see if Donato ends up getting a change of scenery on Friday, or whether he'll continue his breakout in Illinois for the rest of 2024-25.
