Ryder Donovan

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 110^th 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