The Sharks have acquired defenseman Nolan Allan, goaltender Laurent Brossoit, and a 2028 seventh-round pick from the Blackhawks in exchange for defenseman Jake Furlong, a 2028 fourth-round pick, and the contract of retired defenseman Ryan Ellis, both teams announced.
While Brossoit is the highest-priced piece of San Jose’s pickups, Allan’s name is of most intrigue. A first-round selection by Chicago out of WHL Prince Albert in 2021, he’s now in his third professional season. The 22-year-old has been in AHL Rockford for the entirety of 2025-26 but gained a fair bit of NHL experience last season, frequently forming a shutdown pairing with veteran T.J. Brodie and recording eight points and a -13 rating in 43 games.
Nonetheless, Allan’s development hasn’t panned out as the Blackhawks hoped. Drafted as a shutdown D-man, his game hasn’t shown much development since debuting in the AHL in 2023. He ends his time in Rockford with 29 points and an even rating in 109 games, including six points and a -2 rating in 29 appearances this year.
Although it’s peculiar to see Chicago leverage Allan’s name in a move that’s otherwise a swap of negative-value contracts, it’s not surprising to see them move on. He was no longer even considered a top-15 prospect in their pool by McKeen’s Hockey entering the season and had little to no pathway to an NHL role with Alex Vlasic, Wyatt Kaiser, Kevin Korchinski, and Ethan Del Mastro all on the Hawks’ roster or system as more certain long-term options on the left side of their defense.
With the blue line being a bit of a weaker spot in the Sharks’ similarly well-stocked prospect pool, it makes sense they’d take up an interest in a shutdown rearguard with first-round pedigree. While Sam Dickinson is ticketed as their long-term left-side anchor, they don’t have very much behind him in terms of younger pieces aside from 2023 fourth-rounder Luca Cagnoni, who profiles as a high-end power play quarterback but faces questions of how well his defensive game will develop at even strength. Allan will thus immediately take on a significant role with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda as he works to climb back to the NHL.
As for Brossoit, the 32-year-old gets the change of scenery he and the Blackhawks were looking for after he finally returned to play from a year-plus absence last month. One of the best pure backups in the league earlier in the decade, he signed a two-year, $6.6MM contract with Chicago in free agency in 2024 but sustained an offseason meniscus injury that effectively derailed his career.
After multiple knee surgeries and a hip procedure last summer, Brossoit finally returned to practice with the Hawks in November and started in Rockford on a conditioning stint in December. With no real spot available for him on the NHL or AHL depth chart after such a long absence, he cleared waivers without incident, and Chicago has been looking for a trade partner ever since.
Brossoit has done reasonably well in his return to play, logging a .901 SV% and 3.38 GAA and a 3-3-0 record in six games with Rockford. For a Sharks team that faced questions about its goaltending depth entering the season, he’s a legitimately impactful pickup. He won’t be supplanting Yaroslav Askarov or Alex Nedeljkovic on the NHL roster anytime soon, but he’s a significant upgrade as their third-stringer and AHL starter over Jakub Skarek, who owns a .894 SV% in 16 appearances for the Barracuda.
Chicago’s return centers around Ellis. The 35-year-old has now been traded twice since effectively hanging up his skates following a pelvic tear in 2021 that ended his career just four games into his tenure with the Flyers. The longtime Predators top-four piece remained on Philadelphia’s books until the beginning of this season, when the Sharks picked up his contract in the trade that sent Carl Grundström to Philadelphia in order to help them stay above the cap floor.
Ellis’ deal, which carries a cap hit of $6.25MM, runs through next season. Chicago pulled a similar move at last year’s trade deadline to help them stay above the cap floor, acquiring Shea Weber‘s deal from Utah. Weber’s contract expires next summer, though, so adding Ellis will give them floor protection heading into next season as they continue to hand the keys to their roster over to their next wave of young prospects on cheap entry-level deals.
As well as a three-round pick upgrade in the 2028 draft, the Hawks land some AHL depth in Furlong to help offset the loss of Allan and to keep the Sharks from exceeding the 50-contract limit, which they’re currently at. A fifth-rounder in 2022, Furlong was a dynamic two-way rearguard in juniors with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads but hasn’t yet found any success at the pro level. The 21-year-old is in his second AHL season and has been limited to one goal, 10 points, and a -20 rating in 78 games with the Barracuda, including just 12 appearances this year as a frequent healthy scratch.
Image courtesy of Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images.
If this trade involved a Canadian team, TSN would call it a blockbuster.
I was wondering how the Hawks would fill cap space in 2026-27 season, and they are starting to do that now with Ellis’s contract. Allan just never clicked here and that’s okay. Some picks just don’t pan out, it’s why Davidson got so many and gambling on some panning out, some not. Use that cap space for more picks.. again!
I guess it’s OK from a Hawks standpoint. I mean a 4th round pick is a lever to pull in acquiring a deadline need I guess. The 7th rounder wasn’t getting much. I liked Allan but Del Mastro is better IMO and with Kaiser and Vlasic there also and I kind of hope the Hawks re sign Grelcyk. I really like his game and he’s been very valuable. The Hawks are going young and it kind of looks like they won’t draw the big time FA just yet. Broissoit just erases a mistake as Knight, Soderblom, Commesso, and Berezhnoy make a solid core with Gajan just starting to show promise. Helping out the Sharks wouldn’t have been my first choice as they’ll be battling each other for awhile it seems. Anyway still looking forward to Frondell and Kantserov joining the band soon. Well played Kyle.
and Korchinski as well, though since playing like 50 games in his rookie year already, he and Del Maestro were the 2 ahead of Allan, Korchinski might still become someone in long term plans
Korchinski needs to get bigger and improve his shot because he’s just treading water right now. He’s a minus 12 in the AHL. He needs to talk to Bedard and find out what he did in the off season to get bigger and hone his game. He needs to kick his game up a notch. He’s starting to worry me and he might be next out the door. Guys just muscle him in front of the net. He could be packaged with something for a scorer unless he steps up. Just my opinion though. Del Mastro is physical and has a decent shot and is a leader. He was Captain of the Canada Jr. Team I believe.
He may still have some upside but I’ve never been big on Allan and given their current pool he wasn’t likely to ever get much time in CHI. I’ll take the pick upgrade every day of the week for that.
Sneaky good move by San Jose.