The Minnesota Wild have traded forward Ryan Donato to the San Jose Sharks. Donato is still under contract through 2020-21 but will play the final year of his current deal in a new location. Minnesota will receive a third-round pick for the 2021 Draft in exchange.
Wild and Sharks are expected to announce a Ryan Donato trade within the hour; San Jose getting Donato for a third-round pick in ’21.
Both teams also still working on a separate Devan Dubnyk deal which if completed would be announced later today.— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 5, 2020
Wild Trade Ryan Donato
Donato had a fine season for the Wild in 2019-20. He scored a career-high 14 goals and 25 points in 62 games. He had a chance to set a new high in total points but the season’s pause in the spring ended that run. This was his second consecutive year with more than 20 points. Donato also contributed 53 hits and remained above-average in terms of possession ability with a 51 percent Corsi For. Some of his production may have been due to luck; he was well above his recent shooting percentages but he looks like a player finding his NHL footing.
The Boston Bruins originally selected Donato in the second round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. He debuted in 2017-18 with five goals and nine points in 12 games. The Bruins traded Donato and a pick that turned into Cade Webber to the Wild during the 2018-19 season in exchange for Charlie Coyle.
What This Means for the Future
Donato might have a chance to crack San Jose’s top-six. The Sharks are one of the league’s older teams and are coming off a bad season. It was so poor that they traded productive players like Barclay Goodrow and Brenden Dillon in an effort to acquire younger assets or picks. This trade feeds into that same effort as Donato will be only 24-years-old when the 2020-21 season potentially begins.
This trade gives Minnesota slightly more cap space and a pick in next year’s draft. They currently have $11.25 million in projected space but moving Donato’s cap hit adds roughly $1.9 million. That will give the Wild just over $13 million to improve centre depth or make goaltending moves with an eye towards the upcoming season’s playoffs.
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