A smile crept over Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones’ face when he was asked about Ryan Donato’s performance during the Hawks’ 6-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Friday night.
The forward had two goals and two assists — the first four-point game of Donato’s career — to mark his second three-game point streak in three weeks.
Donato has a career-high 18 goals, placing him back atop the Hawks’ leaderboard and putting him on pace for 27.
“Not bad at all,” Jones said of the eighth-year forward. “He’s hotter than burnt toast. He’s awesome right now. He’s working hard. He always has that work ethic and that’s where his game really stems from.”
Added Donato: “I always say it’s my faith. I pray a lot. Things have been great this year. A lot of good things. I have a new daughter at home, and I think that’s the key for me.”
In the second period alone Friday, Donato scored and assisted on power-play goals by Connor Bedard and Jones. Donato really put on a show for the various scouts (at least 13) in attendance, including representatives of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
He already had been a likely trade target — the deadline is March 7 — but he has placed a big, flashing red lamp by his name now.
Donato carries a manageable $2 million cap hit and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
If 33-year-old Taylor Hall fetched a third-round pick, what could you demand for a 28-year-old Swiss Army knife-style forward, who leads the team in even-strength points (28) and is one of only two Hawks forwards who has a plus rating (plus-1) on the road?
You can really put him anywhere,” Jones said. “He’s got the work ethic to be on the fourth line and the skill set, the shot to be one of your top-six forwards.
“So he’s been very versatile for us. He’s been good on the power play. We put him in that faceoff position and he wins a lot of them back for us. And I think that gives our power play a lot of success, a lot of confidence, so he’s been great all over the ice.”
What’s that worth to a playoff contender looking for bottom-to-middle-six depth?
Before you respond, you first have to answer: What’s Donato worth to the Hawks in the long term?
Brandon Hagel once held similar high esteem among his Hawks peers, and his March 2022 trade to the Tampa Bay Lightning for two first-round picks and two prospects launched the rebuild in earnest.
It also left a bad taste in the locker room.
It signaled to veterans such as Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane that the dynasty window was closed in management’s eyes, whether they liked it or not.
This season’s Hawks have the second-worst record record in the NHL at 17-31-6 — far from playoff contention — but they are trying to build the foundation for the next contender.
Team leaders such as Jones and Nick Foligno have railed about the team lacking identitypieces in the past, but you can start to see the faint glimmer of them coalescing around Bedard.
