Before Monday’s trade deadline, many expected that Blackhawks defenseman Calvin de Haan would be on the move but a deal never materialized. Now that he’s still in Chicago, the veteran recently told reporters including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that he’d to stay there beyond this season. De Haan is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and will assuredly wind up with a contract that’s considerably cheaper than his current $4.55MM AAV. The 30-year-old has just five points in 59 games this season but is second on the team in blocked shots with 147 while logging over 19 minutes per contest. However, while de Haan would like to stay in Chicago, the team has young left-shot blueliners Wyatt Kalynuk, Riley Stillman, Alex Vlasic, and Caleb Jones in their system already that are all 24 or younger. For a team committing to a rebuild, it may make more sense to play them more and not bring de Haan back next season.
Blackhawks Rumors
Latest On Patrick Kane
With the trade of up-and-coming star Brandon Hagel and the recent comments of longtime captain Jonathan Toews, the direction new Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson is taking the franchise is a bold one and a polarizing one. He has embraced the term “rebuild,” and is clear in his intentions of doing everything within his power to maximize the long-term assets his club has access to. Naturally, this has led to questions surrounding the futures of the Blackhawks’ three franchise cornerstones- Toews, Seth Jones, and Patrick Kane. More specifically, immense attention has been devoted to Kane given his on-ice prowess and contract situation. Kane will be a pending unrestricted free agent next season, and if there is one consensus to be reached concerning rebuilding clubs, it’s that they all try to gain as much value on the trade market from pending unrestricted free agents as they can get. Which, again, leads to the questions surrounding Kane’s future. He is a sure-fire candidate to have his number retired in Chicago, and is among the greatest Blackhawks of all time, having played there his whole career. But does Davidson have Kane in his long-term plans for the team?
That question could be what Davidson has discussed this week, as he, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, (subscription required) is expected to meet or has met prominent agent Pat Brisson, who represents Kane. LeBrun reports that Brisson, as Kane’s representation, will likely seek an answer to that question of whether Kane is in the team’s long-term plans. Trading Kane may seem unthinkable, but given everything Davidson has done in his brief tenure and everything he has signaled his intention to do, it cannot be ruled out.
LeBrun indicates that teams are “drooling” over the prospect of an available-for-trade Kane, and it’s easy to see why. Despite his age, Kane is as lethal of a scoring winger as he’s ever been. In 61 games this season, Kane leads the Blackhawks with 76 points, which is 102-point pace. The Flyers’ Claude Giroux was the biggest fish on the trade market during this deadline cycle, and he commanded that much interest as a player one year older than Kane and with worse production. (Giroux had 42 points in 57 games for the Flyers this season.) So it stands to reason that given the interest in Giroux, the Blackhawks could expect a bidding war of immense magnitude should Davidson be willing to entertain offers for Kane. It would likely be the kind of bidding war that could be extremely valuable for the Blackhawks and have the potential to speed up their rebuild on its own.
As for a team potentially considering acquiring Kane, trading for the 33-year-old winger would represent perhaps the ultimate win-now acquisition. Barring an extension, the acquiring team would be receiving just one year of team control over Kane, and need to absorb his substantial cap hit, which is set to be $10.5MM next season. Many of the contending teams that were reportedly set after Giroux this season, such as the New York Rangers, would likely have significant issues fitting that cap hit into their payroll. But if a team could get it done, they would be receiving a boost to their roster unlike many other trade acquisitions we have seen in recent NHL history. All of these factors bring us back to the central question: will Davidson decide to shop Kane, and will Kane (who has a full no-move clause, per CapFriendly, something that has become particularly important to note in recent days) agree to leave the only franchise he has ever known? If the answer is yes to both, NHL fans could be looking at a trade market sweepstakes unlike any other. So, given LeBrun’s reporting, this week’s expected meeting between Davidson and Brisson could go a long way towards determining if a contending team’s dreams of acquiring Kane will become reality.
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Chicago Blackhawks Sign Jaxson Stauber
The Chicago Blackhawks have landed a coveted NCAA free agent. Providence College’s Jaxson Stauber, an undrafted goaltender, has signed with the team, inking a two-year entry-level contract carrying an $883K cap hit. The signing comes off the heels of the team’s trade of starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to the Minnesota Wild. While it is unlikely that the trade of Fleury had any direct impact on this signing, in a statement Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson emphasized the importance of “making sure there is no drop-off in our goaltender development” for his rebuilding club. As it stands the Blackhawks’ two goalies on their NHL roster combine for under 100 games of NHL experience, so Davidson’s statement indicates that repairing the team’s organizational situation between the pipes will be a priority.
While Stauber was passed over in every NHL draft he was eligible for, that hasn’t stopped him from developing into a viable goaltending prospect in his own right. Stauber is a Hobey Baker nominee this season and his play through two seasons at Providence College has been stellar. In 37 games this season Stauber registered a .921 save percentage, and in 2020-2021 he posted a .916 in 23 games. Stauber also stands six-foot-three, meaning he isn’t tagged with the “undersized” label that has plagued many goaltending prospects across hockey. Should he be able to continue the success he found at Providence College with the Blackhawks organization, it would greatly help a club with far more questions than answers regarding its goaltending situation.
For the Blackhawks, signing Stauber helps add talent to a team in need of some goaltending reinforcements. As previously mentioned, after the trade of Fleury the crease in Chicago is relatively wide open. The current tandem of Delia and Lankinen is unproven and without much recent success. Delia has a .750 save percentage in his 28 minutes of action at the NHL level this season, and Lankinen has a .889 mark through 17 games so far in this campaign. Arvid Soderblom, with a .920 save percentage this season in 23 games for the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs has promise, but otherwise, this is potentially one of the best opportunities for quick advancement should Stauber want to reach the NHL as fast as possible. Should he exceed expectations, he could find himself quickly rising through the organizational ranks in net. He could get the chance sooner rather than later, too, as Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago reports that although Stauber’s contract “kicks in next season,” if he chooses to start in Rockford he could be able to under an amateur tryout agreement.
Jonathan Toews Discusses Future In Chicago
When Brandon Hagel, a 23-year-old forward signed and developed by the Chicago Blackhawks was traded last week, it showed just how serious general manager Kyle Davidson is in his attempt to rebuild the organization. The team is expected to sell off many of its biggest assets and build through the draft, having already acquired several high draft picks in recent days.
The obvious question that surfaced is what does the future hold for Blackhawks’ icons Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who have spent their entire careers with Chicago and are scheduled to reach unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2023.
After calling the situation “pretty discouraging” recently, the captain was asked by Phillip Thompson of the Chicago Tribune specifically about the direction of the franchise today, and how he felt about his future in Chicago:
I wouldn’t say it makes me question [my future with the team] as much as like…you know for the longest time the thought never entered my mind to ever leave Chicago. In this case you can’t help but picture yourself and what it would be like to play for another team and just what that experience would bring. The thought pops into your mind obviously but again, Chicago’s my home, I love the Blackhawks, I love the organization. It’s been my family for a long time and I’m not putting the cart before the horse or getting ahead of myself.
Toews has gone through a dreadful couple of years when it comes to his hockey career, missing all of the 2020-21 season and posting his worst offensive campaign in 2021-22. He has just eight goals and 25 points through 52 games, numbers that put well behind what is expected of a $10.5MM cap hit. There was always more than just offense to Toews’ game, but it also seems likely that even with resurgent personal play in the 2022-23 season, he wouldn’t see the playoffs again before this contract is over if he plays it out in Chicago.
While Kane is still producing at an All-Star level with 71 points in 59 games, Toews’ struggles would make trading him a difficult task even if he decided to waive his no-move clause and go somewhere else. It should be noted, however, that despite currently retaining salary on two players, both of those will expire before the 2022-23 campaign, meaning Chicago could potentially lower a cap hit substantially if they do end up moving their franchise icons.
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Ryan Carpenter Traded To Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames have made another addition to their forward group, acquiring Ryan Carpenter from the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks will receive a 2024 fifth-round pick in return.
If you could create the perfect Darryl Sutter-style bottom-six forward, Carpenter might be it. The 31-year-old forward is physical, can play all three forward positions, and routinely takes on incredibly difficult defensive deployment. There isn’t a single regular on Chicago who has started a higher percentage of his shifts in the defensive zone, or a forward that has logged more short-handed ice time. Sam Lafferty has started to take over some of that role since being acquired in January but Carpenter remained a key cog in the Blackhawks’ penalty-killing system and will likely take on a similar role in Calgary.
After also acquiring Calle Jarnkrok and Tyler Toffoli earlier in the year, the Flames have considerably deepened their forward group in preparation for a long playoff run. For the price of a fifth-round pick, they’ve acquired someone that can play a specific role–and play it well–while not adding any issues to their future cap situation. Carpenter is on the final year of a three-year, $3MM deal and carries a cap hit of just $1MM. He’ll be a UFA this summer, though with just three goals and 11 points this year, likely will have trouble securing a similar multi-year contract.
For Chicago, adding anything of value for Carpenter was the goal today as they start a full rebuild. A fifth may not be much, but it’s another draft pick to add to the pile–a pile that is growing quickly under new general manager Kyle Davidson.
Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff broke the deal on Twitter.
Wild Acquire Marc-Andre Fleury; Trade Kaapo Kahkonen To Sharks
The reigning Vezina Trophy winner has been traded again. The Chicago Blackhawks have traded Marc-Andre Fleury to the Minnesota Wild, in exchange for a conditional second-round draft pick in 2022. If Minnesota advances to the Western Conference Final and Fleury wins a minimum of four games in the first two rounds combined, the pick will upgrade to a 2022 first-round pick. Chicago is also retaining 50 percent of Fleury’s contract.
Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson released the following statement:
This trade immediately puts us in a better position at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, giving us a pick that will land early in the draft. We are in a better position today at the upcoming draft than we were yesterday. In a short time with the Blackhawks, Marc-Andre made quite an impression on our fanbase and in our locker room. We appreciate his willingness to work with us on finding a deal that worked for everyone.
In a related move, the Wild have traded Kaapo Kahkonen and a 2022 fifth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Jacob Middleton.
As recently as last night, the talks between Minnesota and Chicago appeared to have broken down, as the veteran netminder took the crease for the Blackhawks against the Winnipeg Jets. Fleury ended up losing that game, allowing five goals on 31 shots. That performance notwithstanding, he’ll offer a huge experience upgrade over Kahkonen as the Wild continue their pursuit of the Stanley Cup.
Fleury, 37, won the Vezina with the Vegas Golden Knights last season in the most impressive year of his career, but ended up shipped out to the Blackhawks in a shocking offseason move. From the moment it happened, Fleury’s days in Chicago seemed numbered, given his expiring contract and the lack of competitiveness from the Blackhawks after games started. The question was always would he even want to be traded somewhere else, as he ended up with a handshake no-movement clause after arriving in Chicago.
Minnesota now has a netminder with over 900 regular season games of NHL experience, plus three Stanley Cup rings on his shelf. Still, that certainly doesn’t mean he’s ready to take the Wild all the way. In both of the last two championships he won in Pittsburgh, Matt Murray took over the net at some point in the playoffs, and a similar change happened in Vegas when they brought in Robin Lehner. Over 162 career playoff games, Fleury has just a .912 save percentage, not exactly what most teams need to go all the way.
Among executives in the league who know what Fleury can bring though, Wild GM Bill Guerin certainly ranks pretty high. Their time in Pittsburgh together was quite successful, and now they’ll try to do it one more time before Fleury’s career wraps up in the coming years (or months).
He’ll still have another goaltender to lean on with Cam Talbot, but the fact that Minnesota felt Kahkonen was expendable certainly shows how all-in Guerin is this season. The Wild have huge cap penalties coming next season due to the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts, meaning this year may be their best chance to contend. Giving up a conditional first-round pick may be a pricey decision for a rental goaltender, but it’s hard to argue against the resume that they’ve brought in.
In dealing Kahkonen to San Jose, the Wild have also shored up the defensive side of the puck by adding a big, mean, physical player in Middleton. The 6’3″, 220-lbs defenseman has finally broken through and become a regular in the NHL this season, averaging more than 18 minutes a night. With the additional acquisition of Nicolas Deslauriers, the Wild have added plenty of size to the lineup to go on a deep postseason run.
For San Jose, adding Kahkonen gives them a potential future starter, though things haven’t gone perfectly so far in his young career. The 25-year-old has a .910 save percentage this season in 25 games. Importantly, he’s also a pending restricted free agent, one that the Wild would have had to give a hefty raise despite still paying Talbot next season. For the Sharks, they now have two younger goaltenders–along with the injured Adin Hill–who could both provide some great value moving forward.
Sharks acting general manager Joe Will released a statement on Kahkonen:
Kaapo is a quick, athletic goaltender who has shown the ability to win consistently at every level he has played. He provides our club additional depth at the goaltending position this season and in the coming years.
Questions will now be asked about James Reimer though, who currently sits as the starter for the Sharks and is signed through next season. There isn’t really room for all three, meaning at some point–either today or in the summer–there could be a market for San Jose to move Reimer out.
Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff was first to provide the full details of the Fleury trade, while Michael Russo of The Athletic broke the Kahkonen trade a few minutes after Fleury was acquired.
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Blackhawks Have Discussed Marc-Andre Fleury With The Minnesota Wild
An interesting story circulated today with a new team being added to the watch-list for goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury: the Minnesota Wild. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned earlier that the Wild and the Chicago Blackhawks have had conversations about the veteran goaltender and that it was something to keep an eye on. Even if the two sides could agree on a deal, Fleury has a modified no-trade clause and the Blackhawks do not plan to trade him to a team without his approval, and thus, Fleury would have to want to be traded to the Wild.
No Serious Trade Talks Yet For Marc-Andre Fleury
- With the trade deadline just over 48 hours away now, it appears to be all quiet on the Marc-Andre Fleury front, suggests Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link). Fleury has been assured by the Blackhawks that he’ll have the final decision as to whether or not he’ll accept a trade even though he doesn’t have a full no-trade clause. LeBrun notes that at this point, there have been some general inquiries but none that could be described as serious.
Blackhawks Place Connor Murphy On LTIR And Tyler Johnson On IR
It has been a busy day for Chicago. After shipping Brandon Hagel along with a pair of fourth-round picks to Tampa Bay for two future top-ten protected first-rounders plus wingers Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh, the team announced that they’ve placed defenseman Connor Murphy on long-term injured reserve and center Tyler Johnson on injured reserve.
Murphy was stretchered off the ice on Saturday after taking a hit from Ottawa’s Parker Kelly and it’s no surprise that the placement has been back-dated to Saturday. He’ll have to miss at least 10 games and 24 days from there which means he wouldn’t be able to return until April 7th at the earliest. With it being a concussion and the fact that the Blackhawks are well out of playoff contention, it’s possible that they simply shut him down for the rest of the season.
Doing so would effectively allow Chicago to add all of Murphy’s $3.85MM AAV to their LTIR pool and give them that much extra room to work with by Monday’s trade deadline. With several buyers having limited cap space, a bit more flexibility for the Blackhawks to work with could certainly be useful for GM Kyle Davidson.
As for Johnson, his placement is also retroactive to March 12th and with him just being on regular IR, he’s technically eligible to return as soon as Sunday against Winnipeg. However, that won’t be the case. Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago notes that Johnson only resumed skating on Thursday and while interim coach Derek King noted that the veteran will need to go through the various stages of concussion protocol, he should be able to return sooner than later.
Trade Deadline Primer: Chicago Blackhawks
As we enter the middle of March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks have been among the most successful teams in recent NHL history. They won three Stanley Cups with their core of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith, but their last win was in 2014-15, and times have gotten leaner since. Former GM Stan Bowman made a blockbuster trade last offseason to acquire defenseman Seth Jones, but the team has disappointed, and under new GM Kyle Davidson, the team looks set to begin a large-scale rebuild in order to return to proper contention. That rebuild began today, with the team’s trade of Brandon Hagel for a large haul of picks and prospects. With that move done, and Davidson’s issued statement on the trade, it is clear that big changes are coming to the Blackhawks sooner rather than later.
Record
22-30-9, 7th in the Central
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$2.26MM today, $2.26MM in full-season space, 1/3 retention slots used, 47/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: CHI 1st (only receive pick if slotted #1 or #2), CHI 2nd, EDM 3rd,* TOR 3rd, VGK 3rd, CHI 6th, CBJ 6th, CHI 7th
2023: CHI 1st, TBL 1st,** CHI 2nd, TBL 2nd, CHI 3rd, CHI 4th, CHI 5th, CHI 6th, CHI 7th
* If EDM makes it to the 2022 Stanley Cup Final and D Duncan Keith is inside the team’s top-four in terms of time-on-ice, CHI will receive EDM’s 2022 2nd
** 2023 TBL 1st is top-10 protected.
Trade Chips
Chicago’s recent trade of Brandon Hagel clearly shows that Davidson is serious about the Blackhawks’ rebuild. Hagel is only 23 years old, productive, and on a steal of a contract that costs $1.5MM against the cap until 2024-25, when he will be a restricted free agent. He’s the kind of player that most teams– even rebuilding ones– would want to keep. A player to build around, even. But for Davidson, a scorched-earth rebuild is in order, and his apparent goal is to stockpile as many picks and prospects as possible to build the Blackhawks into a mid-to-late 2020’s powerhouse. So in order to do so, it seems as though any player on the team’s roster is potentially available at the right price. Which means a “trade chips” section could be a bit wide open. That being said, there are a few likelier candidates.
One more likely candidate is defenseman Calvin de Haan. De Haan, 30, is a veteran defenseman on an expiring contract with a $4.55MM cap hit. He plays a style of hockey that is largely unremarkable, but also commendably steady. He has gotten into 55 games this year and posted only five points, so teams seeking offense should look elsewhere, but if a team wants a player who they can stick on their bottom-pairing and not have to worry about, De Haan fits the bill there. The asset cost for a team to acquire him should also be lower than many of the other defensemen on the market, although one does wonder if the asking price gets increased thanks to the aquisition cost the Florida Panthers paid to acquire Ben Chiarot. But regardless of what that prior trade may have done to his market, De Haan represents an attractive trade chip for contending teams who are in need of steady defensive reinforcements but leery of paying the high prices associated with the other available blueliners.
Another player on the team more likely to be moved is forward Ryan Carpenter. Carpenter is similar to De Haan in that he plays a bland-but-steady style of hockey, although perhaps that is more of a virtue for a defenseman than it is for a forward. Even so, Carpenter, 31, has carved out an NHL career nearing 300 games in length through his hard work, determination, and character. He hasn’t and probably never will cross the 25-point threshold, and he’s not an overwhelming defensive or physical presence, but he plays a reliable game of hockey that a coach might desire for his bottom-six. He has 26 games of playoff experience and a coach with a less established bottom-six could prefer Carpenter to a less proven, more inexperienced player once the rigors of playoff hockey truly set in. Like De Haan, Carpenter also should not cost very much to acquire, and his cap hit is only $1MM, so expect him to be one of the likelier Blackhawks to be dealt by monday.
While Carpenter and De Haan are both assets where an acquiring team knows what they are receiving, with a player like Dominik Kubalik, things are far less certain. Chicago is reportedly interested in trading Kubalik, and after the Hagel trade, it certainly seems more likely. Kubalik, 26, broke into the NHL in 2019-20, scoring 30 goals in his first season as a professional in North America. He followed that up with a decent 2020-21, with 17 goals and 38 points in 56 games. This season, though, as the Blackhawks team around him has struggled, Kubalik’s production has not improved as many may have expected. Through 61 games Kubalik has just 11 goals and 21 points, and his linemates are more frequently players like Philipp Kurashev and Henrik Borgstrom than they are Kane. As a pending RFA with arbitration rights, his situation in Chicago has gotten more dicey. Could a contending team, or even a team seeking to contend in the near future, take a leap of faith and trade for Kubalik, hoping that he re-gains the scoring touch he had in his first two seasons? A source indicated (subscription required) to Mark Lazerus and Scott Powers of The Athletic that the asking price on Kubalik could be just a 2nd round pick, so this is the kind of trade that could be a home run if a team gets it right.
Others To Watch For: G Marc-Andre Fleury, F Patrick Kane, F Dylan Strome
Team Needs
1) Draft Picks
As previously mentioned, it’s clear that Davidson’s vision for this team includes stockpiles of draft picks and prospects. So, in terms of what the Blackhawks need at this deadline, their number-one priority should be fulfilling that vision. That means that if there is a reasonable trade on offer that involves the Blackhawks receiving a beneficial amount of draft compensation in return, the teams should do it. They don’t have a ton of cap space available, but perhaps after moving veterans as expected Chicago could have enough room to function as a cap-space broker as well, in order to add a few more depth picks.
2) Reclamation Projects
One of the best ways a team can speed up their rebuild is by identifying and acquiring struggling players who can be developed into quality NHL players. As an example of this, the Rangers got a top-six center in Ryan Strome as part of their rebuild, and the Vancouver Canucks got a point-per-game force by trading for J.T. Miller, whose production was stagnant in Tampa Bay. The Blackhawks already have a history of doing this, with former top prospects like Strome on their roster, but as more and more NHL ice-time gets freed up by rebuild-oriented trades, trying to find diamonds in the rough should be a goal for Davidson.
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