The NHL is entering a curious time over the next few weeks with the 4 Nations Face-Off looming large. There’s no trade freeze during the stretch, unlike other international best-on-best tournaments we’ve seen in the past, meaning there could be fireworks off the ice.
Edmonton appears to be sniffing around the edges of the market for now. General manager Stan Bowman said this week the club is looking for a left-shot, depth defenceman, and forward, likely for the bottom-six.
Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli listed the Oilers as a potential suitor for Islanders winger Kyle Palmieri, but the team was connected to another interesting name: Ryan Donato.
The Chicago Blackhawks winger’s name was linked to Edmonton by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman Saturday night.
“Ryan Donato scored his 19th goal of the season tonight. He’s had an excellent year and is a $2-million player, a UFA at the end of the year,” he said on the network’s Saturday Headlines segment. “I think a few of the Canadian teams are looking around on him.
“I think Edmonton is one of them and he is doing nothing to hurt his value. I think because of the price and the fact he’s a UFA, he’s going to be a pretty attractive piece.”
The 6’0″, 190 lb. leftie has had a great season in Chicago this year, racking up 19 goals and 37 points in 53 games. He added a marker Saturday night against St. Louis, and a recent run had him scoring five goals and 12 points in 10 games heading into tonight.
His impacts have been solid, driving offence at a four percent rate above league average offensively and at a four percent rate below league average, according to Hockey Viz. His contributions equate to that of a second-liner — something the Oilers could be looking at.
At five-on-five, he’s scored 1.43 goals per hour and 2.32 points per hour this season, rates that would rank first and third on the Oilers this season.
While the Oilers are likely looking to add some speed to their bottom-nine, that won’t come in the form of Donato, whose top skating speed and speed bursts have ranked below the 50th percentile in each of the last two years, a significant decrease from 2022-23, when he ranked in the 85th percentile.
Donato’s having a career year, already setting career highs in goals and points, while tying a career-high in assists and it’s not as if he’s playing big minutes, either, averaging just under 15 minutes per game. His underlying offensive and defensive metrics have him driving play offensively and defensively at higher rates than his Chicago teammates, similar to how Ty Emberson was able to do so with the San Jose Sharks last year.
Given the Oilers are looking at complementary players who can excel without power play time, Donato could be a great fit, as he’s already playing in a somewhat limited role in Chicago. His scoring rates are excellent, and he’s shown an ability to play up the lineup with the likes of Connor Bedard.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
