Chicago Blackhawks: Three trade packages for Erik Gustafsson

Trade 1

The Vegas Golden Knights are going for it yet again. They have only ever known to be an elite team since they came in for the 2017-18 season. They made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2018 and then had a dramatic defeat in the first round of the 2019 playoffs. It was a very controversial way that it went down and you never know how they would have done if they won that game against the San Jose Sharks.

2019-20 hasn’t been quite as smooth as it has had a few more ups and downs than they are used to but they are now starting to gear up for another run. The already acquired Alec Martinez from the Los Angeles Kings a couple of days ago. Blackhawks should be very familiar with Martinez from his time with Los Angeles. After the trade, more rumors came out that suggests that Vegas wants another defenseman before the playoffs.

Martinez joins a crew of defenseman that are almost all exclusively strong two-way defenseman. Vegas also has a lot of forwards who are elite defensively like Mark Stone and William Karlsson. That is why Erik Gustaffson would be a perfect fit for them. He could play on their third pair and have an almost exclusive offensive role. He could help them on the power play along with adding some even-strength offense.

Vegas has two third-round picks in the 2020 NHL Draft. They traded Nikita Gusev to the New Jersey Devils which gave them that additional third-rounder. New Jersey is bad so it will be a higher third-round pick so they might be more willing to trade their own third-round pick for Gustaffson. The Blackhawks would then also be able to add another good pick in a very fruitful draft.