With basically everyone on the chopping block: Who goes first?
Kyle Davidson has made it clear that he's willing to hear out every trade offer for nearly everyone. We've learned through the Marc-Andre Fleury trade with Minnesota that he either gets what he wants or nothing happens. With this plan to help jumpstart the rebuild, who will Davidson get rid of in order to secure the future of the Blackhawks?
Calvin de Haan, Erik Gustafsson and Jake McCabe
I'm grouping de Haan, Gustafsson and McCabe together because they all fall into the «older defensemen who take up space» category. If they want the younger guys to develop and succeed at the NHL level, the Hawks need to have room on the roster for them. The return for any of these three will most likely be minimal, but having the space for rookies will be worth it.
Tyler Johnson
Johnson is 31-years-old and hasn't really had the chance to show Blackhawks fans what he's capable of, but at this point Davidson might not care about that. Trading him away for the sake of cap space gives more room for younger guys with cheaper contracts. The only experienced veterans that will stick around are Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews (for now); stripping away Stan Bowman's attempt to retool is just the start.
Dominik Kubalik
After a disappointing season with only 32 points (15G, 17A) in 78 games, Kubalik might not come out of the offseason as a Blackhawk. If Davidson could trade him for picks while he still holds some kind of value, we might see it happen, but if he stays and performs at the same level, he could get traded before the deadline next March.
It's nearly impossible to tell who will get traded with Davidson's open-mindedness, but it's telling of his readiness for the organization's future. Knowing he doesn't plan on rehiring Derek King means he might just start fresh with no concern for a coach's opinion. Whether all or none of these players get traded is something we will only know in time.
| POLL | ||
Who do you think will get traded in the offseason? | ||
| Mostly defensemen. | 77 | 27.7 % |
| Whoever had the least points last season... | 38 | 13.7 % |
| As many players as possible! | 83 | 29.9 % |
| I have no idea. | 80 | 28.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
