Chicago Blackhawks fleece Edmonton in Duncan Keith trade

When the Chicago Blackhawks selected Duncan Keith in the second round of the 2002 NHL Draft, they made a franchise-altering decision. He literally went on to be one of the best defensemen of his era. He was the number one defenseman on a team that won the Stanley Cup three times. Individually, he won multiple Olympic Gold Medals, the Norris Trophy twice, and the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs once.

Duncan Keith has been an amazing player for the Chicago Blackhawks in his tenure.

You can argue that he was actually the most important player of the dynasty that they had from 2009-2017. It was a brilliant career for him and he still has another year or two left in the tank. However, it won’t be played with the Chicago Blackhawks.

A few weeks ago, there was a report that Duncan Keith and the Blackhawks were working on a trade that would send Keith to the Pacific Northwest of the United States or Western Canada. Well, that team is going to be the Edmonton Oilers. The Hawks sent Keith there in exchange for Caleb Jones and a third-round pick. They are also not retaining any of Duncan Keith’s salary against the cap. It is a very good trade for the Hawks.

The third-round pick is going to be very nice but adding Caleb Jones could be a really nice piece. He is a young defenseman that has a really nice ceiling. He was a fourth-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft and has been pretty good in his development. He isn’t a superstar or anything but he can give you good minutes on the blue line. In exchange for a 38-year-old Duncan Keith, it is a great trade for Chicago.

Jones is also the younger brother of Seth Jones who is an NHL superstar. The Hawks have been linked to him in trade rumors so maybe this is step one towards making that happen. If it does, the Chicago Blackhawks will all of the sudden have a good-looking top-four on defense. They would still have a long way to go before they contend but this would be a good start. If they aren’t going to accept rebuilding, fleecing the Oilers is a good alternative.

A lot has gone wrong with this organization over the last few months and even years but this isn’t one of them. Duncan Keith will be missed because of all he accomplished for the team but this was a great trade in the year 2021. Keith will eventually come back and have his number retired on his way to a Hall of Fame entrance so this isn’t the last we’ve seen on him. For the current state of the team, this was a great deal.