Breaking down odds Hawks will trade Toews, Kane, Domi, Murphy and others

A strange phenomenon seems to arise as the NHL trade deadline approaches.

Some fans of bottom-feeding teams like the Blackhawks hope against hope that many players will be jettisoned to contenders in exchange for promising prospects and/or draft picks.

TRADE EVERYBODY! Eight, 10, 12 guys!

Here's the problem: Wretched teams are wretched for a reason - they don't have many difference-makers other GMs are clamoring to get their hands on.

Now, it may be different for the Hawks this year because Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are on expiring contracts.

So, yes, perhaps four-to-five guys off the NHL roster get moved by March 3. Maybe even six.

But I'll be stunned if it surpasses that number.

With all that said, let's take a look at the odds that the following guys are moved ...

Likely

Max Domi: The hardworking, tenacious center leads the Hawks with 14 goals and is winning a career-high 55.2% of his faceoffs and plays decent defense.

Domi, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, is exactly the kind of player you want on a third line in the postseason. He has everything listed above, plus 24 games of playoff experience. Last year, he gave Carolina 2-0 and 3-1 leads in a 3-2 Game 7 victory over Boston in the opening round.

With Max Pacioretty (Achilles) out for the season, a reunion with the Hurricanes makes sense. New Jersey, Minnesota, Colorado, Boston and a slew of others may come calling too.

It should mean a nice return for Hawks GM Kyle Davidson.

Slightly better than 50/50:

Patrick Kane: For nearly a year I've been saying Kane will be moved by the deadline.

But now we have to seriously wonder.

With the Rangers acquiring Vladimir Tarasenko and the Maple Leafs snaring Ryan O'Reilly, the options are dwindling for Kane. There's still a decent chance he ends up on Dallas, but only if the Stars are confident in his health and if Kane green-lights the move - something he should have by now.

One more thing: Let's not forget the Stanley Cup playoffs are an absolute grind. Nobody's going to be pulling up on Kane. They'll pound him whenever possible.

Kane's done it before. But with the questions surrounding his health, it would only be prudent for GMs to be cautious.

Jake McCabe: The 29-year-old defenseman is having his best campaign and closing in on his 500th career game. He's a solid stay-at-home blue liner who would really shore up the back end. One possible hang-up: McCabe's contract carries a $4 million contract for two more seasons.

Sam Lafferty: A high-energy forward who carries a cap hit of only $1.15 million through next season, Lafferty (10 goals) could provide some nice depth scoring. He'll be 28 years old in March, so it's unlikely he'll be around when the Hawks are truly competitive in 3-4 years.

Maybe

Connor Murphy: This is a tough one. On one hand, a contender would love to add Murphy to its third pairing. He can easily deal with opponents' third and fourth lines and is also an accomplished penalty killer.

The trick is finding a team that can carry Murphy's $4.4 million cap hit for three more seasons (unless the Hawks eat some of it).

Maybe that's Minnesota if the Wild don't want to re-sign Matt Dumba. Or perhaps Winnipeg, which desperately needs to shore up its defense. The Kings (3.34 goals allowed/game), Kraken and Penguins are three more options.

Jason Dickinson: Plenty of teams would love a veteran bottom-six center who is responsible defensively, can win faceoffs and boasts 40 games of postseason experience. The only downside is that Dickinson's cap hit of $2.65M goes through next season.

Doubtful, but who knows?

Petr Mrazek: I originally had Mrazek in the "maybe" category, but the 31-year-old goaltender is fairly expensive ($3.8M) and has a contract that runs through 2023-24. Still, he could be moved to a team that loses its starter to injury or one that isn't thrilled with its current tandem.

Mrazek boasts 29 games of postseason experience and helped lead the Hurricanes to the 2019 Eastern Conference finals.

Seth Jones: The guess here is Davidson attempt to unload Jones every chance he gets. Few teams, however, will be willing to take on a bloated contract that runs through 2029-30.

Tyler Johnson: Somewhat surprisingly, Johnson is tied for third on the Hawks with 0.61 points per game. He's a hardworking veteran who won two Stanley Cups with Tampa Bay. The issues? The undersized forward has been injured most of the past two seasons and he's got one year remaining on his contract ($5M cap hit).

Andreas Athanasiou: This seems like a big longshot, but if a team is infatuated with Athanasiou's speed, maybe they poke around and see if they can strike a deal.

Taylor Raddysh, Philipp Kurashev: These two are still so young (24 and 23) and cheap ($750K) that I'd be very wary of moving either one. Allow them to grow their games and see if they turn into nice secondary pieces in the coming years.

No way

Jonathan Toews: With Toews releasing a statement Sunday afternoon it's now safe to say he will not be traded. At this point it's only right to pray for a full and complete recovery for the Hawks' captain. That is obviously what's most important for the face of the Blackhawks' franchise.

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Final thoughts:

With six picks in the first three rounds in both 2023 and '24, it would behoove Davidson to ask for high-quality prospects in some of these deals. Draft picks are nice, but normally take 4-6 years to develop. Adding an almost-ready goaltender, an on-the-cusp defenseman and/or a ready-to-take-off forward would certainly help move the rebuild along.

Also, don't rule out the possibility of a "hockey trade" where Davidson attempts to strengthen an area. Think Alex Nylander to the Penguins for Sam Lafferty, which happened in January 2022.