Blackhawks News: Chicago makes a trade with another rebuilding team

The Chicago Blackhawks are going to be very active in the trade market. There are some big names that are rumored to move and could cause shockwaves throughout the National Hockey League. It is exciting and nerve-wracking.

They got the trades underway on Wednesday when they acquired a heavy cap hit in Nikita Zaitsev from the Ottawa Senators in order to land two pretty nice draft picks.

Chicago is weaponizing the fact that they have cap space and aren’t trying to win so they can take a big contract player that doesn’t play good hockey.

A trade was made on Thursday morning as well and this time it came with another very bad team in the Anaheim Ducks. These are the two teams at the bottom of the Western Conference making a deal that swaps forwards.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks made a trade on Thursday.

The Hawks have sent Josiah Slavin to the Ducks in exchange for Hunter Drew. Both of them are forwards that have made their NHL debuts but have been in the AHL all season long. Hunter Drew can expect to be with the Rockford Ice Hogs while Slavin goes to the San Diego Gulls.

A trade like this doesn’t impact either team’s ability to land Connor Bedard or really get much better in the future. It is simply a swap of forwards that could turn into something but it is unlikely. Each of them is 24 years old and getting a change of scenery.

Now, following this deal, everyone waits for the big-time stuff. Will Patrick Kane get moved? How about Max Domi or Jake McCabe? There is a lot to keep an eye on from the Chicago Blackhawks’ point of view.

Kyle Davidson added a lot via the draft in 2022 and is looking to do so again. They have a lot of draft picks coming up here and should be adding more in the coming days.

There is just over a week until the trade deadline so things are going to get wild across the entire NHL. Hopefully, the Blackhawks are one of those teams that comes out of it feeling like they drastically changed their future for the better.