He collected 80 goals and 208 points in 474 career games with the Kraken, Sharks, and Colorado Avalanche, earning a reputation as an abrasive forward with skating ability, defensive aptitude, and hints of a finishing offensive touch. Donskoi arrived in Seattle with much fanfare, selected from Colorado in the expansion draft two years ago while coming off a career-high 17 goals and with wife, Devin, celebrating the birth of their first son Declan, just a month after the expansion draft. But admist a slow start for the team and a tough stretch of puck luck, his production suffered, scoring a career-low two goals and waiting until February to bury his first goal of the season.
Even during last season’s absence while settling into his Kirkland, Wash. residence, Donskoi still maintained a modest presence in the community which included an honorary captaincy appearance at the team’s annual mid-season skills competition event. He also hand-delivered Stanley Cup Playoff tickets to a local school in Seattle during the second round in May.
A month prior, he and Devin also announced their second son is on the way, even enlisting the help of team mascot, Buoy, in a gender reveal event at Kraken Community Iceplex, the team’s practice headquarters.
Donskoi leaves his playing career with an engravement in Kraken history. He was in the lineup for the team’s historic opener on October 12, 2021 against the Vegas Golden Knights, and scored the decisive goal in the team’s first shootout win in franchise history, three months later at home against the Chicago Blackhawks.
“I got to live my dream of being an NHL player, which I’m extremely blessed and grateful for,” Donskoi said via Instagram.
“I think I was able to reach my own potential, which was always my biggest goal.”