Blackhawks: How Stan Bowman created a successful retool

Niklas Hjalmarsson leaving Chicago certainly came as a surprise in the Summer of 2017.

Niklas Hjalmarsson was a fan favorite in Chicago during their three Stanley Cup runs. He was a part of the core group who had been in the organization from the very beginning of the dynasty days and it very much hurt to see him go. In fact, the Blackhawks could certainly use a player like Hjalmarsson today, as the defensive unit over the past few years has seen some struggles in their own end. Hjalmarsson is now 31 years old and although out for the next three months with a lower body injury, he has seen much success as a Coyote.

On the Blackhawks end of the deal, they did quite well in acquiring Connor Murphy. Only 26 years old, the Blackhawks will be able to get more longevity out of Murphy than they would be able to with the older Hjalmarsson. Even with age out of the equation, Murphy has played very good hockey for Chicago as of late, leading the defensive core to their best season in a very long time.

Injuries tend to be an issue with Murphy, yet he has finally been taken off of the long-term IR and is back to contributing at a very solid level. In addition to what he brings to the table on the ice for the Blackhawks, Murphy is also on a team-friendly deal, as he is set to make only $4.4 million and is under contract for the next two seasons as well.

As for Laurent Dauphin, the prospect that was also included in the trade, he never ended up playing an NHL game for Chicago and was eventually traded back to Arizona in a deal to be later analyzed in this slideshow. Dauphin was a nice prospect when being dealt to Chicago, but approaching his mid-twenties has yet to make any NHL impact at all, thus making him a non-factor in evaluating the Hjalmarsson swap.

Although Hjalmarsson was a huge piece and one that the Hawks would love to have today, the Blackhawks were still able to get a very solid young defenseman in Murphy, making this trade a slight Blackhawks win.