Been awhile since I've made a Hawks post, in part because we have no idea what this team is going to look like in 6 days, let alone 6 months, but I thought I'd throw some ideas out there now that I have some.
Not including trades involving Janmark, Soderberg or Wallmark because A. they haven't happened yet and B. any return we get for them will be relatively insignificant as far as what the team looks like next season. So just assume they're traded for like 3rd or 4th round picks or allowed to expire in the offseason.
I'm assuming Toews will be healthy for next year, which feels like a big leap, but I'm going to take it. So with him in the fold, we'd protect Toews, Kane, DeBrincat, Strome, Nylander, Kampf, Hagel, Keith, Murphy, Zadorov and Lankinen. Seattle would have very few options; if they want to go young they could grab Lucas Carlsson or Matthew Highmore or if they want some more experience (or a trade piece) they could take Calvin De Haan, who has been a decent enough piece for the Blackhawks this season.
The trades all take place after the expansion draft. Strome for Pettersson is something I've seen suggested on CF before and Hawks fans haven't loved it. I used to really love Strome and was excited for him to get a shot as our top line center this year. However, he has really struggled at even strength this year, was injured for an extended period AGAIN and has been outplayed by newcomer Pius Suter on both sides of the puck. Although I really wanted him to be a long term piece in our center core, his struggles, both this season and last have classified him, in my mind, as expendable. Now, it's not all bad; I think as a 3rd liner, he could be really solid and it sounds like that's the role some Penguins fans on here have suggested he might work in. In return, the Hawks would get Marcus Pettersson, a player I've liked for the last couple years. The Pens have been using him on their bottom pair this year, which doesn't feel totally appropriate given his output the last couple seasons. His offense has slipped a little this season (he's been playing with Cody Ceci a lot this season), but his defensive numbers have stayed mainly the same. Ideally, he isn't a top pairing defenseman (obviously), but I think if he can develop chemistry with one of our young guys, be it Boqvist or Mitchell or even Murphy (not a young guy), they could form a good duo that could support the forwards better than our current top pairing LHD has....
Carlsson and Lafferty don't really have to be in there, but I wanted to make the trade a little more interesting. Carlsson hasn't gotten a lot of opportunities here and I don't think his upside is super high, while Lafferty is seeing both his production and impact plummet. Hate using this phrase, but a "change of scenery" could be good for both of them. Idk
For the Florida dump, I really like Brett Connolly. I've mentioned before, I'd love him on the Islanders' 3rd line with Pageau and Wahlstrom, but the money doesn't really work next season for them, so I may have to settle on Connolly going to Chicago if Lou can't make it work. Obviously getting Connolly is more for the sweetener than it would be the player, but the player is no slouch either. He's got a good shot, won't hurt you too bad defensively and has experience that will be valuable to our younger bottom-sixers. Florida gets an AHLer, a depth forward who can hit/kill penalties and most importantly, up to $3.5 million in cap space, which they can use to add in free agency (or I guess this trade could happen before the deadline too).
Finally, I thought we could also sign Scott Wedgewood to be the backup/1B goalie to split starts with Lankinen. He's having a really solid season behind a mediocre New Jersey defense and I think he could tide us over until Commesso is ready or we're ready to really spend in free agency. Love Subban, but I don't think he's going to be anything more than a 3rd goalie who can steal a game occasionally.
I really don’t like the PIT trade, I’m over sending young players to PIT for overpaid number 4,5,6 d-man after the Kahun trade.
I guess that depends on your opinion of Strome. I really don't think he's even going to be a reliable 2C and I think we have a number of guys who can fit into the 3C role long term better than he can. Pettersson I feel a lot more comfortable calling top 4 than Maatta. He plays well next to more offensive minded defensemen (which I think is part of the reason why is production has seen a dip this year) and I think that's an opportunity he'd get in Chicago.
For what it's worth, if it were up to me, Maatta would still be a Hawk, I think he fit here better than CDH has and when you hold his impact up next to Kahun's, it was a pretty fair trade imo. Maybe if Kahun stayed we would've developed him better but you never know
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