Chicago Blackhawks: It is time to consider trading Patrick Kane

It is time for the Chicago Blackhawks to consider trading Patrick Kane.

The Chicago Blackhawks are an extremely lousy hockey team. Without Jonathan Toews and Kirby Dach in the lineup, it is one of the worst rosters in the history of the organization. They have a top-ten NHL forward, a few very good players, and the rest is a dumpster fire. The goaltending is the worst in the NHL and their team defense in front of them doesn’t help. For that reason, it might be time to think about trading Patrick Kane.

Let me be very clear about something, I believe that Patrick Kane is the best player in the history of the Chicago Blackhawks. He hasn’t yet reached the point totals of Bobby Hull or Stan Mikita yet but it is possible that he does if he finishes his career healthy. However, the fact that he does have over 1000 points and three championships amongst many other prestigious individual awards, he has to be considered the top guy. His number 88 will be retired, he will walk into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, and they might even build him a statue in Chicago.

With a decorated resume like that, he is naturally a fan favorite. He should be because of the accomplishments but also because of the way he plays. He is as fun to watch play hockey as any player ever. He uses great hands, vision, and hockey sense to make incredible plays in the offensive zone. His transition game is second to none and most of the points (goals or assists) are of the “spectacular” variety.

Because he has all of these things attached to his hockey name, trading him wouldn’t go over well with the fanbase. However, it needs to be done at this point. He has three years (including this season that they are currently in) left on his contract at 10.5 million. A contending team getting a player like Kane for 2.5 seasons is very valuable. He has a hefty cap hit but the Hawks might get even more in return if they retained some salary.

They really don’t have cap trouble like they once did and it doesn’t even really matter right now anyway. They need to rebuild this thing from the ground up and nothing would kick start that better than by trading Kane. The return he would bring the Hawks is second to none. We could be talking top prospects, high draft picks, or a combination of both.

There is no rumor or anything like that but it is clear to me that trading him is the best course of action for the future of this franchise. It is also fair to him to give him a chance to win again while he is still an elite player. He has a lot of good hockey left in him so they should trade him while his value is at his highest.

He is being wasted away on this team now. He has played very well so far and other teams will take full note of that. With each passing year, his value goes down a little bit and makes it harder to get as big of a haul as possible. If they are ever going to do it, they need to do it before the return is insignificant. It can be a big difference for their rebuild.