In comparison to last year’s NHL trade deadline, the Chicago Blackhawks had a relatively quiet one. That’s what happens when general manager Kyle Davidson makes only one trade before the deadline, compared to nine last year.
Anthony Beauvillier was traded yesterday to the Nashville Predators in exchange for a fifth-round pick. Beauvillier was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks in late November to reinforce a forward group depleted by injuries.
Ironically, injuries limited him to 23 games. During his brief career with the Hawks, he scored only six points. The hope was that he could regain his scoring form, which had propelled him to 20 goals for the New York Islanders, but it was never to be. Davidson effectively recouped the draft pick he had given up to acquire Beauvillier in the first place. It will be a little later in the fifth round.
The biggest reason for the Hawks’ quiet trade deadline was that Davidson did not have many valuable veterans to move.
Forwards Nick Foligno and Jason Dickinson, as well as goaltender Petr Mrazek, would have generated significant trade interest, but they were removed after agreeing to two-year contract extensions.
Davidson recognized Foligno’s senior leadership, Dickinson’s developing scoring, and Mrazek’s ability to competently cover the net until Drew Commesso is ready.
Veteran forwards Tyler Johnson and Colin Blackwell were the only veterans thought to be interested in the market, but they would not bring anything back to the Hawks. The only other way the Blackhawks could gain a high draft pick was to assist a cap-strapped contender in taking on salary cap space to enable a trade.
Davidson indicated that he was only receiving late-round choices in bids as a third-party. That was not very appealing to him.
It makes sense for Davidson to wait until the offseason to see if he can persuade a team with cap issues to give up a more valuable asset.
He acquired a first-round pick in 2022 from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Mrazek’s contract. He took advantage of the Boston Bruins’ cap squeeze previous offseason, acquiring Taylor Hall and Foligno. Davidson also received a 2026 second-round pick in exchange for taking on Josh Bailey’s cap charge from the Islanders.
If you think about it, the best Davidson could have done was a third-round pick, which is what the Arizona Coyotes received last season when they assisted the Hawks and the New York Rangers in the Patrick Kane trade.
This year’s market was not favorable for the third team engaged in a trade to facilitate the salary cap portion of the transaction.
The Tampa Bay Lightning received a fourth-round pick in exchange for assisting Adam Henrique in brokering his trade from the Anaheim Ducks to the Edmonton Oilers. The Philadelphia Flyers received a fifth-round pick for being the third team that assisted the Vegas Golden Knights in acquiring Noah Hanifin from the Calgary Flames.
At this juncture in the rebuild, the Hawks must acquire greater assets than that if they want to assist a contender improve by utilizing the team’s massive salary cap room. Thinking long term about the salary cap and the draft has been one of Davidson’s talents. He made a wise decision to maintain discipline.
Blackwell and Johnson are set to become unrestricted free agents following the season. Given that the Blackhawks have prospect depth to replace them, not receiving anything back is hardly the end of the world. Davidson could always bring them back on a one-year contract, much like he did with Andreas Athanasiou last summer.
Leave a Reply