Donato leaves Harvard for B’s deal
Ryan Donato has seemed destined to become a Bruin for a long time now and, in the end, neither he nor the team wasted any time in getting a deal done.
Donato’s Harvard University team was bounced from the ECAC tournament Friday night, and last night the forward signed a twoyear entry-level NHL contract with the Bruins. He’ll be eligible to play as soon as tonight at the Garden when the Columbus Blue Jackets come to town.
Drafted in the second round of the 2014 draft (56th overall), Donato could have become an unrestricted free agent in June, but his family advisor/agent Matt Keator said that was never an appealing option. The 21-yearold left-shot finished up his junior season with 26 goals and 17 assists along with a plus-15 rating.
“He’s a hometown kid whose father (Ted, also Ryan’s coach at Harvard) played for the Bruins. He’s going to a great team and will be in a great situation. And they’ve treated him great since he was drafted in all the development camps,” Keator said. “His dream has always been to win the Stanley Cup with the Bruins.”
The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder will be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2019.
Donato left Harvard in February to play for Team USA at the Olympics in South Korea and excelled on the international stage, posting five goals and six points in five games before the Americans bowed out in the quarterfinals to the Czech Republic. He returned to the Crimson to finish out the season and, as it turns out, his collegiate career.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney believes the Olympic experience advanced Donato’s thought process toward taking the next step in his career.
It will be Boston or bust this season for Donato. He is not eligible to play in Providence and take part in a potential long run for the farm club in the AHL.
Sweeney said the B’s current injury situation — forwards David Backes (leg cut), Patrice Bergeron (broken foot) and Jake DeBrusk (upper body) are all out — was not necessarily a “tipping point” to get the deal done so quickly, bit it may have opened the player’s eyes to the opportunity he has in front of him right now.
“He’s got a confidence about himself, a talent and I’m sure he’s got some details that he’ll have to work on,” said Sweeney, who lauded Donato’s heaviness on the puck. “I think that (Olympic) experience gave him a respect for the 200foot game.”
Donato is part of the stellar Bruins draft class of 2014 that included forwards David Pastrnak, Danton Heinen and Anders Bjork and defenseman Emil Johnasson, whose with Providence.
Bruins notes
Sweeney said team doctors examined Backes yesterday and cleaned up the deep cut that he suffered in Saturday night’s win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The GM did not have a timetable on Backes but expects he’ll miss at least a couple of games.
Also, Sweeney said there’s no timetable on returns for Bergeron and DeBrusk, but he left open the possibility that Bergeron could join the team on the upcoming fourgame road trip.