Chicago Blackhawks: Tough news comes out on Duncan Keith

Things have not been going well so far this offseason for the Chicago Blackhawks organization. That comes both on and off the ice for obvious reasons. The latest hit the team is going to take sounds like it will be on the ice as Duncan Keith is going to get traded. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet in Canada reported that they are looking to trade him to a team in either the Pacific Northwest or Western Canada per his request. 

The Chicago Blackhawks may be without Duncan Keith after this summer is over.

Do you have to wonder first and foremost where Keith is going to go. Based on Friedman’s suggestion, it sounds like the Pacific Division is a good place to start if you take the southern teams out of the equation. That leaves the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks, and Seattle Kraken as options.

It would be kind of cool to see Duncan Keith move on to play for the Kraken as they expand into the league starting in 2021-22. The trade possibilities are endless with that because they can use this type of trade as their expansion draft selection. Seattle probably wants to have a formidable team in year one which would be helped along by adding someone like Keith.

Duncan is one of the best players in the history of the Chicago Blackhawks. You can make the argument that he is the best defenseman they have ever had. He has won the Norris Trophy twice, the Conn Smythe Trophy, and three Stanley Cups. He was one of the key pillars on a team that had so much success for such a long time.

They might not get all that much in return for him but they might get something. He is still a very serviceable defenseman, even at his age. It is sad but he has still probably been the best defenseman on the team over the past two or three years as he aged. If he went to a team where he was properly used, you might see him have a really nice year.

This is going to be a hard thing for Blackhawks fans to get over because of what Keith has meant for so long. He was a terrific player on a terrific team. He also played a premier position at an elite level for so long. This is the nature of the business and it does seem like something that is going to happen. Hopefully, if it does, both sides are content with how it went down.