There are two main points you could read into the makeup of the post-trade-deadline Chicago Blackhawks: They’re flush with cap and draft capital.
The Hawks are projected to have $32.9 million in cap room for next season.
They also have a total of four first-round picks and five second-round picks over the next two drafts.
It’s time for the big swing: an elite player.
Not pretty good. Elite.
General manager Kyle Davidson spent the first three years of the rebuild loading up on picks and signing free-agent rentals — which he then flipped into more picks.
Last offseason, he attempted to upgrade the roster with upper-tier veterans, but the results have been mixed.
Few have lived up to their billing. Some have looked like they’re past their prime, and others have just flat underwhelmed.
Meanwhile, the Hawks just traded away three veterans: Seth Jones, Petr Mrázek and Craig Smith.
Give Davidson credit for collecting a stable of young talent through the draft, but his forays into the free-agent market have failed to move the needle.
If he just tries to build through his stockpile of draft picks, the journey back to playoff contender is going to move at a snail’s pace.
He needs to shift gears to “hockey moves.”
Davidson acknowledged as much during his deadline-day address.
“I would probably say so,” he said Friday. “I don’t necessarily know if that was the stated intent, it’s kind of how it worked.”
For example, the Jones trade fetched a 2026 first-round pick and a potential goalie of the future in Spencer Knight. In the past, the deal might have been two first-rounders, or a first and a second.
“I think it’s safe to say we’re likely moving away from that,” Davidson said about picks-based trades. “Now you never say never in terms of if something makes sense for draft capital. In these cases, it made sense to add players and to add guys to the roster.”
Let’s acknowledge that signing top-tier free agents or swinging blockbuster trades is easier said than done. It takes mutual interest on both sides, and other factors have to align, such as contract term and cap room.
“Making trades is hard, and you don’t necessarily take a player or a situation and be like, ‘I’m going to get another player in this or I’m going to get draft capital in this,’ ” Davidson said. “It either works that way or doesn’t. …
“Money dictates that sometimes, but I think it’s safe to say we’ll look more at those types of trades or situations moving forward.”
The Hawks have tried big moves before.
Davidson set his sights on forward Jake Guentzel.
But after the Tampa Bay Lighting traded with the Carolina Hurricanes for his free-agent negotiating rights, Guentzel chose to stay with the perpetual playoff contender long term, signing a seven-year, $63 million contract in June 2024.
The Hawks may have to cast a wider net and try to use some of their “ton of draft capital,” as Davidson called it, to coax a star from another team’s roster.
The Vancouver Canucks put both Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser on the trading block but ended up keeping both.
General manager Patrik Allvin said he’s not interested in rebuilds or rentals, just building on what is now a wild-card contender. But now would be the time to test his commitment to Pettersson in what has been a down season for him: 12 goals and 24 assists through 56 games.
His rocky relationship with now-former teammate J.T. Miller might’ve contributed to that.
Pettersson, 26, was a 30-goal scorer the previous three seasons and is locked up for the next season at $11.6 million annually — which will look like a bargain as the salary cap rises in each of the next few years.
Why not roll the dice?
That’s just one example.
Winnipeg Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers and Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner remain pie-in-the-sky targets.
“While the Hawks didn’t secure any big-ticket names at the deadline (though they’ll certainly try this summer), you’re always thinking about those things,” Davidson said. “You’re always thinking about who can really fit our picture moving forward.
“We do have all these great assets that are future assets — that’s also not for everyone, those types of assets.”
Translation: It may take more than just a pick, perhaps a prospect.
Just a couple of what-ifs: Would you be willing to part with the likes of Kevin Korchinski? What if packaging Ryan Donato, Nick Lardis and/or Sam Rinzel helps get you an upgrade, what then?
What sacrifice is too painful?
“That’s something we do have to consider,” Davidson said of such scenarios. “But we’ve got some really nice pieces that we feel are valuable around the league, and when it comes to exploring what those bring, we have done that and we will continue to do that.
“But it takes two to tango. So we’ll keep grinding away.”
