Return to Seattle is ‘surreal’ for Chicago Blackhawks center Ryan Donato, but the obstacles he has faced are familiar

Ryan Donato picked up his old habits in Seattle like he never left.

The Chicago Blackhawks forward ate at Bourbon Steak Seattle and reminisced about other old haunts — such as COMO and The Pink Door — from his Kraken days.

Even walking back into Climate Pledge Arena, where he spent the previous two seasons, memories came flooding back.

It was all familiar yet unfamiliar.

“Now it’s definitely a little weird,” Donato said. “I loved my time in Seattle. I was very happy here, but I’m very happy in Chicago now. So it’s definitely a little awkward being here now, just like mentally just trying to get ready for a game and eating the same places I used to do the night before and doing all that same stuff and seeing friends and family.”

But at the same time there was eagerness and anticipation with him set to play his first game against them since he left.

“Seeing family and friends from the other team and all that kind of stuff is definitely a little surreal,” Donato said. “Still just trying to wrap my head around (the fact) that I’m on the other side now, but it’s been fun.”

There’s the fun side and then there’s business.

In the offseason, the Kraken had several free agents, including ones they prioritized, so they were unlikely to be suitors for several UFAs, including Donato.

Donato said he picked Chicago because of increased opportunity in the pecking order, where the Hawks were in their development, an influx of talented prospects and positives he heard about the quality of life in Chicago.

“For me and my wife and the dog and also considering the hockey opportunity and living opportunity, (it) just felt like the right place,” he said.

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing.

Donato started the season in prime position with Taylor Hall on the opposite wing and highly touted rookie Connor Bedard in the middle of the top line.

Since then Hall suffered a season-ending knee injury and Donato has moved around the lineup when he didn’t mesh with Bedard and whomever else occupied the top line.

“You can’t control the uncontrollables, right?” Donato said. “Guys are going to get hurt, there’s going to be lineup switches regardless of whether you think it’s fair or not right.

“So for me, I just want to show up the same way, prepare the same way — I go to church the night before a game, eat the same meal — I always prepare the same way.”

Donato had a similar experience in his two seasons with the Kraken, too, lessons he draws on now.

“I learned how to play like a complete player,” Donato said of his time in Seattle. “Whether it was a first-line role or fourth-line role, you kind of had to play the same way, especially with a lot of the young guys they had over there; (Matty) Beniers at the time. So for me, (it was) just learning to play a complete 60 minutes and competing for a lineup spot every night, especially the first year, and then earning it every night the second year, then doing it here (in Chicago).

He has developed the mentality “everybody’s fighting for a job. Definitely something that I learned over there and something I still carry with me now.”

After sitting out two games with an illness, Donato reunited with Bedard and Philipp Kurashev against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. Coach Luke Richardson said that game was just about getting back to game strength.

“There was definitely some energy levels that I was trying to watch,” he said after the morning skate at Climate Pledge Arena. “There were times when he was getting a little gassed, but that’s normal coming back from an illness.

“I thought he gave us a really good game last game and actually the game before he went out (against the Anaheim Ducks) was probably his best game. He’s in and out of the power play and we’re starting to use him on the PK because he’s got a very strong stick and some good hockey sense.

“He’s very versatile. And he’s a gamer, he’s the first guy at the rink every day and he loves hockey and whatever role we put him in. He’s happy to help out the team,” he said.

Still, rejoining Bedard’s line gives Donato an opportunity to shoot more, which Richardson said is Donato’s best attribute.

“Hopefully playing with Connor and Kurshy, he gets another few of those tonight to shoot it at the net,” Richardson said.