PITTSBURGH – Marko Dano was in the middle of enjoying dinner in Cleveland with his Rockford IceHogs teammates on Thursday when his phone rang.

On the other end of the line was Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman, informing him that he'd been traded to the Winnipeg Jets as part of a package to acquire Andrew Ladd.

The news came right out of the blue for Dano, a forward prospect who had been traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Blackhawks in the deal for Brandon Saad just last summer.

“No idea. I knew Chicago was trying to get Andrew Ladd, but I wasn't expecting that I would be part of the trade,” Dano said after skating with the Jets on Friday afternoon at CONSOL Energy Center. “But now I'm excited I can be here and be with the big team. Hopefully, I can be a valuable player and help this team out.”

Dano, who has nine goals and 23 points in 48 NHL games, will jump right into the lineup on Saturday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Penguins, playing on the right side with Adam Lowry and Joel Armia.

“I'm a two-way player with good hockey sense,” said Dano, chosen 27th overall by the Blue Jackets in the 2013 NHL Draft. “I have a thick body, so I can protect the puck well in the corners. I'm not scared to go to the hard areas in front of the net.”

Was getting dealt for the second time in less than a calendar help prepare Dano, who was born in Austria but grew up in Slovakia, for what transpired on Thursday?

“I know what it's about to go to a new team, but the first trade was in the summer, so I had more time to adapt and go over to Chicago and settle down,” said Dano, who is listed at five-foot-11 and 183 pounds. “Now it's in the season, so it's going to be a little different. But I think it's going to work. It's not going to be an issue.

“I think I can adjust pretty quickly. Just go out there and have fun.”

Dano's love for hockey is no surprise, considering his father Jozef played pro and was a member of the Slovakian national team, suiting up in two Olympics and several world championship tournaments.

“It came naturally, I started hockey when I was three-years-old,” said Dano, 21. “It was a dream since forever. Every hockey player wants to play in the NHL and win the Stanley Cup. Growing up in Trencin (Slovakia), where all of those hockey players like (Marian) Hossa, (Marian) Gaborik and (Zdeno) Chara (are from) and they were playing in the NHL. I watched them on TV and saw them in the summer, when my dad was playing with Hossa.”

The Jets (26-30-4) are coming off a 6-3 win over the Dallas Stars, a victory that snapped a four-game losing skid and came on the day they lost centre Bryan Little for the season due to a back injury and traded their longtime captain.

The Penguins (30-21-8) are in the thick of the chase for a wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference and should get a boost from the return of centre Evgeni Malkin from injury.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice liked what he saw from Dano on Friday and discussed what it's like for a player to try to integrate himself with the group when a trade happens and you're in the lineup less than 48 hours later with a new team.

“He moved well on the ice and moved the puck smartly, so we'll get him in a game and not draw any conclusions from. He's a young player, but there's lots there.” said Maurice. “For a younger guy, there's a lot of nerves. We're going to try to balance how much information we give him about style of play and systems and things like that, because we do want him to just go out and play.

“But you know what, he's got 20 new friends. It's just like kids going to a different school. They'll figure out how to get along.”

Although it's a small snapshot, Dano already made a positive impression on his new teammates.

“He's got a lot of skill and from what I've heard, he's a tremendously hard worker,” said Lowry. “He's got a bright future ahead of him.”

kwiebe@postmedia.com

Twitter @WiebeSunSports