The free agent group this year isn't great, but it's decent. Teams will overpay, but will also find players to fill holes in their lineup that need to be addressed. Ryan Donato appears to be a part of that group heading to free agency as there still isn't a contract done between him and the Chicago Blackhawks.
Ryan Donato (Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images)
After the season Donato put together on a team that struggled to score all season, he deserves a lot more than the $2 million AAV cap hit he had. That doesn't seem to be the thinking from Frank Seravalli as he projected Donato to receive a two-year, $2.4 million AAV deal.
Donato finished the season with 31 goals and 62 points in 80 games. He was first in goals, third in assists, and second in points while playing 16:19 per game. He was underestimated heading into the season as he was a healthy scratch early, but put that to bed real quick.
In terms of free agents this summer, Donato put up the sixth-most points behind Mitch Marner (102), Matt Duchene (82), John Tavares (74), Mikael Granlund (66), and Nikolaj Ehlers (63). Say even two of them were to be re-signed ahead of free agency, that boosts Donato's value even more.
Donato ended the season with more points than players like Patrick Kane, Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, Brock Nelson, and Brock Boeser, but is going to get $400,000 more for another two years with the cap going up significantly? I don't think so. This is a big miss and the Blackhawks are going to require at least $3.5 million AAV to keep him around. At Donato's age and what he did for Chicago, I would give him even more for longer.
