What Nashville got for Gustav Nyquist is what the Chicago Blackhawks should get for Ryan Donato in a deal

The Chicago Blackhawks have until March 7th trade deadline to deal the few trade assets they have.

Seth Jones will draw a lot of attention since he has been the most vocal about wanting a trade. Veteran Ryan Donato is another player the Hawks will likely deal before the trade deadline.

The Blackhawks are likely going to have trouble signing him to a contract extension since he is having a career year scoring as he heads into free agency this offseason.

Donato has 19 goals and 21 assists while looking to add more. He picked a great time to have a career season since the salary cap is set to go up this offseason.

Plus, the return the Nashville Predators got for Gustav Nyquist just showed the Blackhawks should get a premium draft pick for Donato.

Nyquist is having a down year from last season when he scored 23 goals and had 52 assists. The only issue the Hawks may have in getting a future second-round pick is this will be the first season Donato will hit the 20-goal mark.

Nyquist has reached 20 goals or more five times in his career. However, if the Minnesota Wild are willing to pay that high of a price for the current version of Nyquist, then the Hawks should use that as the baseline for their return for Donato since he is currently producing more.

However, the belief is the Blackhawks front office wants young players back rather than draft picks.

While the Hawks do have plenty of draft picks, they should still continue to pile them up. It is always better to select your prospects who do not have the entry-level contract started.

Plus, the Hawks can always any picks picked up at the deadline to be leveraged in a major trade in the offseason to help get a line capable of skating with Connor Bedard.