Chicago Blackhawks: Tyler Johnson trade makes no sense at all

The Chicago Blackhawks made a very interesting trade on Tuesday night. In fact, you can claim it was a terrible trade on the part of Stan Bowman because it was. They acquired Tyler Johnson and a 2023 second-round pick in exchange for the rights to Brent Seabrook who is retired. It is a trade that makes absolutely no sense on the side of the Blackhawks.

The Tampa Bay Lightning gave up a 2023 second to free up Tyler Johnson’s cap hit of 5 million dollars. All they had to do was take on Brent Seabrook who they will just stash on long-term injured reserve. It won’t hit their cap at all. That is the Blackhawks bailing out the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

The reason the trade makes no sense is that the Blackhawks could have just put Seabrook on the LTIR themselves without taking on Johnson’s cap hit for the next three seasons. Getting a second-round pick is not even close to being worth that. Johnson isn’t a bad player but he isn’t worth that hefty contract.

If you are expecting the same Tyler Johnson that played against the Blackhawks in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, you are going to be very disappointed. He had 8 goals and 14 assists for 22 points in 55 games. At this point in his career, he is a bottom-six forward which is not worthy of five million dollars a season against the salary cap.

The Chicago Blackhawks are the latest team to bail out the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Lightning will now be able to extend their star center Brayden Point sometime soon now if they make another move or two. They are going to be very good once again next season and the Blackhawks just helped make sure of that. There are probably going to be some teams in the Atlantic Division that are annoyed that the Blackhawks did this.

You also have to wonder if this means that more moves are coming. Dylan Strome is a potential trade candidate which makes even more sense now that they have Johnson. With Jonathan Toews and Kirby Dach ahead of him on the depth chart, it isn’t a bad group of centers but it is way too expensive. They already made some interesting moves when it comes to their qualifying offers so we have to wait and see what is next.

This move solidifies the Hawks as one of the more active teams so far this offseason. With free agency looming later today, it is going to be fun to see if they make any more moves or if they remain quiet. The salary cap is no longer as free as it was before the start of the 2021 NHL Draft. Hopefully, it leads to bigger and better things but this move wasn’t the best.