Not saying this to knock but just for future reference there is a 0% chance Mercer is involved in a trade for Hellebuyck.

No thanks.

lol.

So the Hawks just take on almost $10m in cap hit from a division rival for free? Not gonna happen. Might as well use that $9.6m in cap space and plug them into the Jets blue line.

Dillon has value and Schmidt has negative value. Dillon can be traded at the deadline for futures because he only has this upcoming season left on his contract. Schmidt is a serviceable 3rd pair defenceman who’s a great team mate, and he only has two years left.

The Blackhawks have been adding veteran players in case you missed it, and the LD depth chart in particular is really weak.

Basically, it’s two respected NHL veteran defenceman for free and it fits with Chicago’s recent moves, so I didn’t think it was an outrageous trade.

In fact, my preference would be to keep Dillon and just move Schmidt with Fabian Lysell (acquired in the Bruins trade) being the added value to move Schmidt’s contract. Do you think that’s more realistic?

Is there a 1C or 2C early 20s Devils’ player with ample team control that you could see moved in a trade for Hellebuyck if it isn’t going to be Mercer?