When the Seattle Kraken did not offer Ryan Donato a contract earlier in the month, it seemed like the former Boston Bruins’ draft pick would be looking for his fifth NHL team in six years. But on Wednesday, the team announced the signing of the Boston, Massachusetts native to a one-year deal worth an average annual value of $1.2 million.
Donato scored the first goal in Kraken history in the season opener against Vegas. Donato had the best season of his young career, setting career bests in goals (16) and assists (15), and played in 74 games for Seattle. Over five seasons, the former Harvard University star has registered 51-57-108 in 254 regular season games.
The left-shot center played three years at Harvard with 104 points and as a member of the United States Men’s Olympic team in 2018, scoring five goals in five games. After a season and a half in Boston, Donato was sent to Minnesota with a conditional fifth-round draft pick for Charlie Coyle and played one season with San Jose before signing with Seattle prior to their inaugural season.
Donato was eligible for arbitration rights, which was why the team did not initially give the restricted free agent a qualifying offer due to the possibility of a higher cap hit. The Kraken has been busy this off-season with the signings of winger Andre Burakovsky, goalie Martin Jones, and defenseman Justin Schultz to go along with drafting projected top pick Shane Wright with the fourth overall selection in the NHL Draft.
