Chicago Blackhawks: Artem Anisimov trade is a win
The Chicago Blackhawks have traded one of their centers to the Ottawa Senators to relieve some cap space and make some room.
The Chicago Blackhawks were always going to trade Artem Anisimov to clear some cap space and make some room at the center ice position. They finally did that today when they traded him to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for forward Zack Smith.
Smith carries a cap hit of $3,250, 000 through the 2020-21 season so they are saving some money on that front. He is 31 years old and played in 70 games last season. He had nine goals and 19 assists for 28 points. Those are decent numbers for a fourth-line player on the worst team in the league.
With the Blackhawks, Smith will likely play on the fourth line again but he will be playing with some much better players on the fourth line. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all if he relishes in his role with his new team. This trade should be viewed as a win for the Blackhawks.
Anisimov was a very good player for the Blackhawks during his time here. He came over in the trade that sent Brandon Saad to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Nobody knew that he would be the best player the Hawks would get in return but he was and it wasn’t close. In 291 games for Chicago over four seasons, he had 77 goals and 78 assists for 155 points. He was just a solid second-line center for most of it and should be proud of his time there.
He along with Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin formed the best line in the NHL over the span of two seasons and got little to no credit for it. Kane and Panarin both drive offense like a center so Anisimov just had to do the hard work and be rewarded for the plays they made. Patrick Kane won the Hart Trophy as the MVP of the league while Panarin won the Calder Trophy as the leagues top rookie in the same year with Anisimov in the middle of it all.
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He was good enough for the Blackhawks not to move to avoid protecting him in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft for the Vegas Golden Knights. They kept him and his no-move clause and protected him from a selection by Vegas. He was a good player here but it was his time to go. Now they have Smith and that should allow them to roll four lines with ease and use their forwards to both score and defend. There might be one or two more moves to be made before the season so stay tuned!