He won't be a 4th liner with SJ so let's throw out the bottom 3 of the bottom 6. I don't think he should accept anything, that's not a very good way to be a motivated athlete. I think he'll fit in nicely, and with the potential of flanking Thornton, he could put up some good numbers.
Well obviously he shouldn’t stop trying to get better. The fact is though, he’s not the offensive player some thought he would be. We would’ve seen more by now and Minnesota wouldn’t be moving on. Scoring is pretty natural for most top six players at the NHL level.
To often guys like Donato end up flaming out because they continue to see themselves as that type of player and really offer nothing else to the organization. Those who accept who they are, end up carving themselves a nice career being bottom six players, who can play up if needed.
When I say he should accept who he is as a player, that’s what I’m talking about. The guys who put in the hard work to be bottom six players, instead of the hundreds who can’t cut it in a scoring role, get put down in the bottom six and don’t really know how to be a role player. We see it every year. These guys are out of the league after their second contract because there’s cheaper options in the salary cap era..
Dan Cleary is the greatest example in the history of the sport. Top pick who was supposed to light it up and failed miserably in that role. He was toast ever being a top 6 player, was out of options, on his way to Europe but ended up getting a tryout with Detroit. He bought into playing a role hundreds of others don’t and ended up playing another 10 years. Most of those type of players end up in Europe for a few years and then end up in the real world.
Donato has all the attributes to be a really good bottom six player. He should embrace that, is all I’m saying. If he doesn’t, he’ll end up out of options and SJ will probably be his last stop in the NHL minus a couple of PTOs.
It really is rare for a player who expected to be a top six player and ends up a role player. 90% of your bottom six players are either young players who are climbing the organizational ladder, older guys who are winding it down, or guys who’ve spent 3-5 years in the AHL becoming good bottom six players. Most players in Donato’s position don’t make that transition. Even if they have played in the AHL, they were down there in a scoring role.
For a third round pick it’s worth it, but if he doesn’t accept who he is as a player and work at it, he won’t last more than a season or two.
