Ryan Donato is a Poor Man's Daniel Sprong: Blackhawks Have Leveraged That
Donato is in a similar role to the underrated Sprong, bringing solid play to the Blackhawks' lineup.
Ryan Donato is a Poor Man's Daniel Sprong: Blackhawks Have Leveraged ThatDetroit Red Wings forward Daniel Sprong might be one of the most underrated players in the NHL and continues to skate less than he deserves for the production he contributes to his teams.
The last two seasons have been a perfect example of that as he has averaged 11:44 of ice time per game, but scored 39 goals and recorded 89 points in 142 contests. Sprong has turned from a depth player that bounced around to a legitimate offensive contributor, but his average ice time has gone down.
It's baffling, but the Seattle Kraken and now the Red Wings seem to have utilized him perfectly. Sprong can contribute in the role he plays and other players on his team can succeed playing higher in the lineup as needed. Sprong is capable of playing throughout the lineup and should keep on getting better as he moves into his prime.
Donato Mirrors Sprong
The Chicago Blackhawks have a player that is fairly similar to Sprong in Ryan Donato. Signed as a free agent on July 1, 2023, Donato is one year older at age 28 and had the same cap hit as Sprong at $2 million AAV this season. The Blackhawks have Donato for one more year before he becomes a UFA. Sprong should hit the free agent market this year.
While they both made $2 million AAV this season, Sprong is going to get a solid raise after scoring 18 goals and 43 points in 2023-24.
By many accounts, the hard-working Donato is the poor man's Sprong. Donato will have a lower AAV (not that the Blackhawks desperately need that), but he also has similar analytics and just less production.
Donato scored 16, 14, and 12 goals the past three seasons while Sprong scored 21 and 18 over the past two. At 5-on-5, the offense is still in favor of Sprong (62 even-strength points), but Donato contributes to his team in a positive way with 50 even-strength points. Watch for Donato's goal total to rise next season as his shooting percentage should return to his mean of 9.7%. He's not the fastest skater, but likes to go to the net.
The Blackhawks got a good taste of Donato's ability to play anywhere in the lineup this season as he was even on the top line with Connor Bedard for a time and did well.
The two big differences between Sprong and Donato are the physicality and takeaway/giveaway ratio. That's where Donato has the sizable edge. He recorded over 100 hits and had 43 takeaways to just 25 giveaways this season. Sprong had just over 30 hits as well as 16 takeaways and 26 giveaways.
The Blackhawks seem to be happy with what Donato provides even if he's not a top of the line scorer. He plays his role well and is a good piece to have going into next season.