Ryan Donato

And obviously, we know Connor Bedard is, is gonna be out for the start of the season, so he's not on here right now.

But for opening night lineup, uh, is it Nazar, Kane, and Bertuzzi on the top line, Frondel, Donato, and Kansrov on the, uh, second line, Green, uh, Teravainen, and Moore on the third line, and- Boivin, Greenway, and Smith on the fourth line.

Your defensive pairings are Byram and Rynzel, Vlasic and, um, Cole, I believe.

I'm trying to read this myself.

... other than Bedard?

Yeah, obviously we have Bedard, once he gets healthy, will be a big part of this lineup.

But I think the one player who needs to be thrown into the top six in that spot for Ryan Donato is likely going to be Nick Lardis.

I, I'm thinking he's going-

I loved that Alex Vlasic contract at the time, and I definitely think it's only aged better as the salary cap has risen, even if, like I just said, Vlasic's last couple of seasons maybe haven't been as successful as we had hoped.

Then in June of 2025, we saw the Hawks sign Ryan Donato to a four-year deal with a $4 million AAV.

This was after electing Not to trade him at the deadline after his, you know, 31 goals, 62 point season, which I think we all believed was not going to be replicable, especially with, you know, more young players arriving on the pro scene, guys who are going to be in top six roles.

We just didn't see Donato play in the top six really whatsoever last year.

It's usually what Donato racks up.

I still don't, and at the time, didn't love the fourth-year option or the fourth year of term that Davidson gave out to Donato, but if that's what it took for him to sign on the dotted line with a $4 million AAV, which I think maybe...

I guess with the salary going up, it probably is a fair value for Ryan Donato as a bottom six guy who can score goals, plays hard-nosed style, does things of value for this Blackhawks team.

I didn't love the fourth year, but I still don't really have any real gripe with this contract considering Donato is a pro's pro and a good veteran to have around the young guys moving forward.

I think Frank Nazar is a fantastic player who's going to take another step.

They have a pretty decent supporting cast, like, you know, Taylor Teravinen is still there doing it, Ryan Donato.

They just brought in Jordan Greenway, who's going to be a lower of the lineup sort of punishing forward.

They've got a lot of youth still, like Anton Freundel, Sacha Boisvert, of my namesake.

So I contested you on that and you caved in to my wanting of Oliver Bjorkstrand on there.

One other person you brought in here was Ryan Donato.

So talk me through the bringing him back.

Yeah, so honestly, a huge problem with the Kraken in their all-time players and current players is there just is not enough center depth.

Oh, well, I'll just, in case someone's just listening on the audio side, this is how the lines break out.

First line is Jared McCann, Matty Beneers, Morgan Geeky.

Second line, Bobby McMahon, Ryan Donato, Jordan Eberle.

Third line, Mackie Samuskevich, Shane Wright, and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

I mean, it's like, we're going to story time, but, uh, you know, the, the crack and they, they show up and that rust from COVID sure seemed to be a thing because the crack and fall down three, nothing in their first ever game.

But right now, no, The first goal in Kraken history is scored by Ryan Donato.

And then the Kraken, they come all the way back.

They score two goals at the end of the second, and then they score a goal to tie it in the third.

At the Chicago Blackhawks Ice Center, he drilled down on micro skills with director of skill development Brian Keane, focusing on body positioning, head up puck reception, and buying that extra split second of poise under pressure.

Even more intriguing was his work with skating coach Natalia, oh my gosh, Zagoran-Nikova, the save specialist who helped unlock Ryan Donato's stride.

She broke down the biomechanics of his skating, teaching him how to engage his upper body, his shoulders, and his elbows to generate effortless power and maintain glide without exhausting his legs.

Korchinski finished last season strong in his nine-game NHL stint, leading the Hawks defenseman in 5-on-5 expected goals percentage and excelling in clean zone exits and now with an extra 12 pounds of muscle and an evolving skating stride he's coming into camp ready to battle every single day for his nhl minutes and he's going to need to because it's crowded right so do you think kevin korchinski added his added size and refined skating will be enough to lock down a permanent top six role on this defense on opening night And would you prefer the Blackhawks keep Korchinski as a sheltered third-pairing offensive driver or give him top four minutes alongside a stay-at-home veteran? What do you guys think? All right, moving on from there.