Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen

Fantasy Summary

He has a unique package of vision, size and skating that is a very tantalizing mixture. If he’s able to work out consistency issues he could end up as a middle-six option, similar to Kevin Hayes, down the road.


Observations

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August 2024 – Donovan became an unrestricted free agent after not being offered a contract by the Vegas Golden Knights on August 15, 2024, the NHL exclusive signing rights deadline. Mark Henry

July 2023 – Donovan took time away from the game this past season to focus on his mental health, and has stated his intention to play this coming season for D-1 St. Thomas University in Minnesota. No matter what comes of his career in professional hockey, one must credit his dedication to personal growth and maturation, which will serve him well wherever his future leads. Taylor Davis 

July 2023 – Donovan took time away from the game this past season to focus on his mental health, (as should be lauded) and has stated his intention to play this coming season for D-1 St. Thomas University in Minnesota. No matter what comes of his career in professional hockey, one must credit his dedication to personal growth and maturation, which will serve him well wherever his future leads. Taylor Davis 

October 2022 – It is a make-or-break year for Donovan entering the 2022-23 season, and things aren’t looking too promising following another disappointing college season. Putting up only two goals and two assists over 34 games last year, one has to wonder if the 6-3 forward will ever figure things out even to be a decent AHL forward. After transferring from Wisconsin to Vermont for his senior year (with two seasons of college eligibility remaining,) he needs to turn the corner after stagnating the past few years with the Badgers. Taylor Davis

December 2021 – Hoping to generate better production, Donovan’s University of Wisconsin coaches moved him off the wing this season, giving him increased ice time at center. Unfortunately, his scoring totals have not moved much (1G, 2A over 16 contests), nearly mirroring his sophomore 2020-21 output (2G, 1A in 24 games). Having increased his muscle-mass in the offseason while focusing on honing a more controlled game, the Minnesota native has reduced his penalty minutes this campaign (16 PIM after racking up 40 PIM in 2020-21). He still shows developmental promise, but as a Badger, Donovan has yet to display the high school scoring touch that inspired VGK to select him with 110th overall draft pick in 2019. Kevin Wickersham 

July 2019 – Donovan dominated play at the high school level where he spent most of the 2018-19 season but was unable to apply those same skills in the USHL, where he picked up only a single assists in nine regular season games, and another in five playoff games for the Dubuque Fighting Saints. That’s probably a large reason why he stock dropped so much over the course of the season where he was originally pegged as a late first round selection. He has an intriguing package of size, speed and vision that separates many players apart from their peers. However, Donovan was inconsistent in using that combination which dropped him into the fourth round before Vegas eventually selected him with the 110th overall pick. He will be joining the University of Wisconsin in the fall and hopefully be able to translate some of the skill he displayed at the high school level.  Mason Black

Attributes
Fantasy Upside 6.0
NHL Certainty 4.5
Country USA
Position C
Roster Type Free Agent
Shoot/Glove Right
Date of Birth October 4, 2000
Height 6‘3”
Weight 191 lbs
Drafted 2019 Round 4; Overall: 110

Stats

 Season Team League GP G A TP PIM      Playoffs GP G A TP PIM 
 2014-2015 Duluth East HighUSHS-MN21 1 23 2|Playoffs3 0 00
  Duluth East HighMN State3 0 00 0|        
 2015-2016 Duluth East HighUSHS-MN24 3 36 16|Playoffs3 0 11
  MN Devils 15U AAAMNBEL 14U16 2 1113 -|        
 2016-2017 B16 - Blue (Final 54)MNHP-163 0 00 -|        
  Duluth East HighUSHS-MN24 10 2030 12|Playoffs3 1 23
  Team The Base UMHSEHL21 2 1113 8|Playoffs3 0 00
 2017-2018 Team Gold USA-S175 2 24 -|        
  Duluth East HighMN State3 0 44 2|        
  Duluth East HighUSHS-MN25 11 4253 8|Playoffs3 3 25
  Team The Base UMHSEHL20 10 1121 26|Playoffs3 2 13
  U.S. National U18 TeamNTDP5 0 00 0|        
  USNTDP JuniorsUSHL1 0 00 0|        
  Dubuque Fighting SaintsUSHL4 0 00 0|Playoffs5 0 00
  USA U18Hlinka Gretzky Cup4 1 12 2|        
 2018-2019 Duluth East HighUSHS-MN23 12 2537 37|Playoffs5 5 49
  Team The Base UMHSEHL19 8 1725 14|        
  Dubuque Fighting SaintsUSHL9 0 11 0|Playoffs5 0 11 16 
 2019-2020 Univ. of WisconsinNCAA32 2 35 24|        
 2020-2021 Univ. of WisconsinNCAA22 2 13 40|        
 2021-2022 Univ. of WisconsinNCAA34 2 24 28|        
 2022-2023 Did not play |        
 2023-2024 Univ. of St. Thomas NCAA3 1 01 4|        
 2024-2025 Univ. of St. Thomas NCAA8 0 22 22|        

Highlights