As Ryan Donato just continues to play great hockey for the Chicago Blackhawks, more and more attention is being drawn to him. Many playoff contenders will be able to fit his steal of a cap hit onto their team and the 28-year-old is able to play anywhere in the lineup and produce.
While there have already been six teams linked to Donato, two more have been added to that long list who have shown interest. Elliotte Friedman said that the Edmonton Oilers are one of the teams looking at Donato while The Fourth Period mentioned the Florida Panthers being linked to the forward ahead of the trade deadline this season as well.
Both the Oilers and Panthers met each other in the Stanley Cup Final last year and could both use a player like Donato on their team this season to try to get back there.
The Oilers have solid forward depth, but scoring is an issue at times. The team is top-loaded, but still not as much as in previous seasons. Donato would be tied for third on the team in goals with Zach Hyman and in fourth on the team in points ahead of players like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman. Whether he be a rotated player in the top-6 alongside Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl or fit somewhere in the bottom-6, the Oilers are a Cup contender again and need a player who’s having a season like Donato is.
I would argue that the Panthers need Donato even more. While the scoring is more spread out and more of the top players are doing what is expected of them, the bottom-6 is lacking big time.
Donato would still rank high on Florida in goals and points like with the Oilers, but he would be a major upgrade to the entire fourth line of Jonah Gadjovich, Tomas Nosek, and A.J. Greer while having the ability to slide up the lineup if needed.
It would be a major miss for the Blackhawks if they didn’t score off this opportunity to trade Donato with so many potential suitors interested. The price is only going to increase and any playoff team would benefit greatly by everything he has to offer.
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