Who would be a good long-term deadline add for the Blackhawks?
Things are finally starting to look up for the Chicago Blackhawks. After missing the playoffs for seven of the last eight seasons, they’ve begun to play some competitive hockey fueled by high-end young talent. With 37 points in 25 games, 2023 first-overall pick Connor Bedard is looking to be the generational superstar that was promised. Recent first-round picks Frank Nazar and Artyom Levshunov are playing well and figure to be fixtures of a young core.
With 27 points in 25 games, the Blackhawks are on the fringe of the playoff picture in the Western Conference. For a franchise desperate to see the postseason, it could be tempting to make a win-now trade or two at the deadline to help ensure a playoff run, but young teams like Chicago always have to weigh their long-term outlook against immediate success. However, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson could pull something off to get the best of both worlds, a player who will contribute right away, and for the forseeable future.
On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed which long-term pieces the Blackhawks could target at the trade deadline.
Tyler Yaremchuk: At some point, you don’t just want to have 11 kids in your lineup. That’s not really how these Cup contenders get built. And that ties into an #AskDFO that our friend Mechanicsville put in. If you were Kyle Davidson, who would you want to add to your roster in a trade? We touched on this last week. For me, you can go look at the Daily Faceoff trade board. Owen Tippett, young, skilled, term. Jordan Kyrou, middle-aged, skilled, has term. You can look at (Andrei) Svechnikov and the rumors that have popped up with him in Carolina. To me, you can go sacrifice some future assets, as long as it’s a guy in his mid-to-late twenties and comes with term.
Carter Hutton: Yeah, and it’s not just this rental player. It’s not necessarily what’s going to happen this year. I get what they’re saying, you want to stick to the plan that’s there. But the plan has been sped up as well. The plan changes. You have to adapt to the situation and where you’re at. What I do like about this team is the fact that they’re playing more meaningful hockey now, which is important for everyone’s development. I even reflect on my personal career and different teams I was on, playing games where you’re nervous and there was more on the line, this is what you want. You want guys to understand that. What do we talk about all the time? We’re talking about the Olympic team, and we’re asking what guys have been in this experience. This is what you want, you want guys to have this experience and gain it, and the only way to do that is to be in the hunt.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…