Explore Ryan Donato’s impressive career year and his significant impact on the Blackhawks’ roster last season.
Ryan Donato had a career year last season; he was the subject of trade deadline rumors and made some fans nervous that he would walk in free agency. It’s hard to believe he’ll come anywhere close to the points he produced last year, but he’ll be on Connor Bedard’s wing (at least to start) and might put up “respectable” numbers (30 points).
Ryan Donato In 2024-25
Donato scored 62 points in his second year with the Blackhawks. His career high before that was 31 points in 2021-22 with the Seattle Kraken, fun fact, he scored their first goal in franchise history. One of the reasons for Donato having a career year is how hard he worked on his skating over the offseason last year. The other is that he played most of his time with Connor Bedard (420 minutes, to be exact). But that’s not to say Bedard was the only reason for Donato’s success. His Corsi, relative to teammates, was +1.64/60 while Bedard was -4.24/60. Obviously, Bedard’s defensive struggles and poor matchups hurt his analytics, while Donato’s numbers might be inflated just a little bit.
Some of that just comes down to luck. Donato had a 17.03% shooting percentage last season, when his career average was only 11.1%. That’s due for some heavy regression.
Donato In 2025-26
Ryan Donato will most likely play with Connor Bedard. We can expect Donato’s scoring to be a little inflated again, but nowhere near last season’s numbers. If he does, that’s awesome. But unlikely. Donato was kept so that the front office didn’t have a forward core completely stripped of scoring. The only NHL players with proven scoring ability are Donato, Connor Bedard, Teuvo Teravainen, and Frank Nazar.
And that worries me. Ryan Donato is a bottom-six player on a good team. The fact that the Blackhawks held on to him because of scoring (say what you will about his lockeroom presence) makes me worry about Connor Bedard’s important third season. It’s also why I’m bothered when reporters say the kids are driving the bus. Because they aren’t.
Jan 30
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The Verdict
It’s possible that Donato has a solid season and scores somewhere just north of 30 points. I think that’s a realistic expectation. Best case, Donato somehow goes on another tear and scores a lot of points. Worst case, Donato severely regresses.