The Chicago Blackhawks are nowhere near a postseason spot and will once again miss the annual dance as they continue to trudge through another difficult rebuilding season.

The Blackhawks have already made several moves this season, trading away veterans like Taylor Hall to the Carolina Hurricanes and more recently, defenseman Seth Jones to the Florida Panthers. And with the NHL Trade Deadline approaching this Friday afternoon, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson could be preparing for additional moves.

One popular name making the rounds in NHL Trade rumors is pending free agent forward Ryan Donato, who has already scored a career-high 21 goals. According to NHL Insiders Pierre LeBrun and Chris Johnston in a recent piece for The Athletic, Donato is likely to soon be on the move.

“Kyle Davidson got a massive piece of business off his plate by trading dispirited defenseman Seth Jones to Florida on Saturday night, freeing himself up to focus on other moves ahead of the deadline. The Blackhawks have a highly coveted rental in Ryan Donato, who is having a career season, plus a slew of other veterans on expiring contracts who won’t be in nearly as much demand. It’s worth noting that while Chicago has oodles of cap space to potentially take on another team’s cap casualty with a sweetener, it does not have any remaining salary retention spots to deploy this season.”

The NHL Trade Deadline officially falls on March 7 at 3:00 PM EST.

Blackhawks forward Ryan Donato has scored a career-high in goals this season

Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Donato has already reached a new career-high in goals scored and is playing on an expiring contract, making him a natural choice to be moved at the NHL Trade Deadline by a team with zero chance to make the playoffs.

Donato has also played for the Boston Bruins, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks and Seattle Kraken in his career. He's played in a total of 461 NHL games and is just two goals away from reaching 100.