The Blackhawks cannot afford to let this player get to free agency

Last season, Connor Bedard led the Chicago Blackhawks in points with 67 on the season, but it was Ryan Donato who led the team in goals with 31.

Donato has come a long way since getting drafted in the second round by the Boston Bruins in 2014. The 29-year-old forward has played in the league for eight seasons, having played for five different teams over the course of his 483 game career.

Year after year, Donato's contributions on the ice has grown as he bounced from Boston to Minnesota, to San Jose, to Seattle and finally to Chicago.

The 2024-25 NHL Season was a game changing year for Donato, especially in a contract season. Donato registered 31 goals and 62 points in 80 games, becoming a legit top line forward the Hawks could count on night in and night out.

The Blackhawks cannot afford to let a 30 goal scorer hit free agency.

Chicago has a handful of players they can target in free agency. Mitch Marner, Sam Bennett or even John Tavares all could add some scoring to a team that was second to last in 2024-25.

While any of the top names would be a great add for the Hawks, Kyle Davidson already has potentially one of the best scoreres available in the organization.

Of the unrestricted free agents set to become available this summer, Donato is second in goals and sixth in points. Players like that don't become available every year.

Donato has to be looking for some stability after jumping from team to team every two years. Davidson and the Hawks can offer that with a three of four year contract with Daily Faceoff currently projecting Donato at a cap hit of $4.2 million.

The Blackhawks have plenty of cap space to make a deal with Donato happen, but there is one red flag to mention.

This is only the second time in Donato's career he has registered more than 15 goals. He has registered 30 or more points just twice and after Davidson saw Philipp Kurashev fall from 54 points in 2024-24 to just 14 points last season there has to be some unease about committing long term after a season.

With that in mind, the Hawks can afford to take a risk on Donato. They cannot however afford to let him walk in free agency.

It seems likely Donato is looking to test the free agency market with him still not having a new contract. When July 1 comes around, Donato's potential contract offers jumps from one team to 32. Some team is going to be ready to pay him, and the longer the Hawks wait the more likely it turns into a bidding war.

The Blackhawks have the cap space to sweeten the deal and get Donato signed now. If it takes going from 4.2 million to 4.5 or offering an extra year on the contract, Davidson should do what he can to keep a player who just registered 31 goals on one of the worst Blackhawks teams on paper.