Ryan Donato signs ELC

Donato Watch is over. The Bruins have signed Ryan Donato to a 2-year ELC and will be joining the Bruins in time to play against Columbus.

https://www.nhl.com/bruins/news/bruins-sign-ryan-donato-to-entry-level-contract/c-297070516

 

No Providence. Here to stay.

Does he stick with 16 or honor the old man?

 

Should we be concerned about Debrusk’s health the rest of the way?

 

Where does he fit? 3rd line with Backes?

 

That'd be my guess.

Pretty exciting news.

 

My guess is he would go in where Wingels is.

Marchand - Riley - Pastrnak
Heinen - Krejci - Rick
Donato - Backes - Gionta
Schaller - Kuraly - Acciari/Wingels

Gonna be tough to fit him in if/when they get healthy unless he lights it up. 12 game left in the year so they will get a good look at what he’s got before the post season.

 

Great news. Putting him on the Backes line makes the most sense if he is able to go soon but he did get a lot of stitches on his thigh last night, otherwise insert Wingels. I hope DeBrusk is ok.

 

He won’t start on Backes line though, because Backes is hurt.

 

What a pleasure it’s been this year to watch the young guys come into the league and see what they have. I wasn’t completed sold on Donato until the Olympics.

Can’t wait.

 

Yes. This is the kind of year prospect followers dream of. I’ve been waiting for a year like this since I thought Andy Hilbert and Ivan Huml were going to lead the way.

 

Holy hell, haven't heard those names in forever!

Remember the special K line in Providence? Krejci-Karsums-Kalus? I thought that line was going to bring the Bruins to the promised land.

 

So does the JFK situation apply to Donato where if he plays for the Bruins he can’t play for Providence in their playoffs? I ask because it’s likely that he is on a the 9th floor in the playoffs if they get most of their players back. He’s great depth to have but experience in the AHL playoffs would be helpful too.

 

Correct, Donato is not eligible for the AHL playoffs.

 

I'm beyond excited. This team is stacked and they got better today.

 

Full strength lineup is looking real good - assuming DeBrusk is out some time, when he's ready he swaps in for Donato / Donato pushes Heinen down.

Marchand - Bergeron - Pastrnak
Donato - Krejci - Nash
Heinen - Nash - Backes
Schaller - Kuraly - Wingels/Gionta
Acciari

Chara - McAvoy
Grzelcyk - Holden
Krug - Miller
Carlo/McQuaid

 

Well, Krejci is Krejci and Karsums brought us Recchi, so all in all, you were right.

 

Huml is still playing professional hockey. He scored 12 goals in the Czech league.

 

That's a first.

 

Last year I said something extremely stupid like "Tommy Cross is more NHL ready than Charlie McAvoy" so I'm not making that mistake again. I'm excited to see Donato get some NHL games, and it's great that he'll probably get top 9 minutes in some very low leverage games. But McAvoy is the exception, not the rule, so lets hold of penciling him into the playoff lineup until he gets a few games under his belt.

 

That 2014 draft is looking pretty special. B's only had 5 picks but after tonight 4 will have already played in the NHL.
Pastrnak is a consensus top 5 pick (probably 2nd best), Heinen is probably a top 30-40 overall player out of the draft with Bjork/Donato TBD. Given where they picked in the draft and lack of overall picks the B's are going to have a ridiculous amount of production compared to the rest of the league.

Not often the B's win the draft but I don't think there is another teams group of picks you trade Boston's group for straight up.

 

Yeah, I also think playing him with Krejci might be best starting out

 

He hasn’t skated with the team let alone practiced, so I don’t think he’ll get dropped in on the top 6. Maybe they can experiment if they want, but I would be surprised if he didn’t start off with Wingels and Gionta. They weren’t on the same line together, but Donato and Gionta were teammates a month ago so there may be some comfort/familiarity there.

 

I agree with this. I suspect tonight we will have: Marchand - Ril. Nash - Pastrnak, Heinen-Krejci- Ric. Nash, Donato-Wingels-Gionta, Kuraly-Schaller-Acciari.

I suspect Donato will look massively out of place and a little discombobulated. I do not expect him to look comfortable tonight, but it will be fun regardless to see him in a Bruins uniform.

 

Love the possibilities here. Donato may need time to adjust but I suspect he will be more like McAvoy than other guys who have needed seasoning.

I don't remember a Bruins team as deep as this one. What a job Sweeney has done.

 

I agree with this sentiment, but Donato was drafted under Chia.

 

He's practicing on the 1st PP unit today. That's probably his best chance to make a big impact. I assume he'll be pretty sheltered 5v5, he looks like he's playing on the 4th line with Acciari and Gionta

 

I'm still wondering if Cam Stewart and Jon Rohloff are going to put it together.

 

Saw this on the Twitter machine. Makes me feel old. 2 of the 3 are active NHL players!



Also, Bergeron will at some point have played with both Ted and Ryan.

 

Chara, too, I think.

 

Good call - both on the '98-'99 Isles

 

Is that young PSK with the Hal Gill jersey?

 

Wow a Gill 75 to boot... that looks arguably fake given the letter spacing.

That's some commitment

 

19:40 TOI, 1g, 2a, 8 shot attempts (6 on goal), 6 individual scoring chances.

Welcome, Ryan.

 

I never want to see him not in the lineup again.

 

Have to give Sweeney credit for sticking him right in there though. He didn't look out of place at all.

 

Only about 952 more games until he overtakes Gretzky's points record at this pace.

 

Well he’s averaging three points a night in the NHL so he should be able to knock that one out in a couple seasons, right???

No pressure kid

 

It's creepy how much he looks like his old man.

 

I thought that was normal. Although I'm not a Harvard man.

 

Honestly, I can't believe that Donato is taking grief for continuing to go to school. Lots of radio chatter criticizing him for missing practice for class.

 

"Radio chatter" is "grief" the same way "cardboard" is "food". I wonder what radio callers are "missing" by calling the radio? Matlock? Price is Right?

In as much seriousness as I can muster, my guess is that 83.8% of radio callers would agree to do anything to miss class (literally or figuratively). "I can't believe that idiot gave up a chance to eat real dog shit and went to class instead. Hahvid my ass." I'm not sure why such a reaction would be surprising.

 

They actually took a break from speculating on the Brady/Gronk/Belichick soap opera that they created in the first place to rip someone else? Boston sports radio is a cesspool. The only thing that surprises me is that they took a break from boring as shit off-season football manufactured drama.

 

It’s AMAZING that he could do what he just did every game for next 10 seasons and not catch #99.

 

Yep, when I first typed it out, I had like 560 games, but that was because I got his point total from just his Edmonton stint (9 years), which had been a 2.40 PPG pace. Different era, of course, but still.

 

Just staying healthy enough and good enough to play for that long in the league would be a success on its own

 

This is perfectly phrased. But yes, the Bruins, who have been one of the best teams in the NHL all season long, get barely a peep, but give the Hot Take Brigade a window to sound off on a guy who has played exactly one professional game and they’re all in.