Ryan Donato will wear his third uniform in a span of a month on Monday when he dresses for the Boston Bruins, making his NHL debut.
After his junior season ended with Harvard on Friday in a loss in the Eastern College Athletic Conference semifinals, Donato inked a two-year entry level contract with the Bruins. On Monday, he took line rushes during morning skate with Brian Gionta and Noel Acciari prior to Boston's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
"I know that Ryan and the family had been thinking about what may or may not lie ahead but they had been focused right up until the loss on Friday night to staying on the task at hand," said Bruins general manager Don Sweeney. "We have some injuries, we’re at the point in the season where every game has a lot on the line and I think his being able to go over and have success at the Olympics this year really started to jumpstart his thought process that he was ready for the next challenge."
In a unique Olympic year where NHL players were not permitted to participate in the Games, Donato was one of four collegiates USA Hockey brought to Pyeongchang for its 2018 roster. He joined his new Bruins linemate, Brion Gionta, who played one game in the American Hockey League this season, and signed a contract with the Bruins at the culmination of the Olympic tournament.
Donato was one of the more effective players for Team USA, leading the group with five goals and six points in five tournament games.
He joins the Bruins roster at a time it is missing some key pieces. Boston is still without forward Patrice Bergeron (foot fracture) who has been out the past 10 games (Boston has gone 8-2-0 over that stretch).
Bergeron skated on Monday but will not be available for the game, head coach Bruce Cassidy said. Bergeron will also not play on Wednesday against the St. Louis Blues, but it remains possible he could return Friday against the Dallas Stars. The Bruins currently trail teh Tampa Bay Lightning by two points for first place in the Atlantic Division, and have played one fewer game than the Lightning.
"Really, we’re getting contributions from everywhere and we feel comfortable that we have players playing well in Providence that we can continue to fill gaps and hopefully we can be healthy as we go down the stretch," Sweeney said. "It was a bit of an opportunity on both sides to explore this point in time for Ryan and see where he’s at and get a chance to jump into our lineup."
Boston will also be without Zdeno Chara Monday, another player who will also miss the Wednesday game, Cassidy said. Chara is considered 'day-to-day' with an upper-body injury. Also out is forward Jake DeBrusk (upper-body) who hasn't played since March 13.
Donato will take the spot of injured forward David Backes though, who left the Bruins victory against the Lightning on Saturday after being cut by the skate blade of the Lightning's Yanni Gourde.
In what was a scary looking moment, Julien said Backes avoided a much more serious injury, though he did require about 18 stitches above his right knee. Backes was seen walking out of the locker room Saturday and was on the ice on Monday, but is not expected to play against Columbus.