Raddysh, whom Blackhawks received in Hagel trade, impactful in loss to Jets
It's difficult to predict how a player will react after they're traded.
Even if you go from the bottom of the standings to the top, it can still be extremely difficult to leave close friends and a coaching staff that helped grow your career.
Raw emotions often spill out, and that's what happened when Brandon Hagel found out he was going from the Blackhawks to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday.
"He looked shocked," coach Derek King said before the Hawks lost 6-4 to Winnipeg at the United Center on Sunday. "He was getting a little choked up. I've got a little bit of history with him, obviously, coaching him down in (Rockford).
"I just said, 'Hey, you've done a great job. You've grown into a good hockey player and you're gonna continue to grow, and hopefully I'm still around the league to watch you do that.'
"Just wished him good luck."
In addition to a pair of first-round draft picks, the Hawks also received forwards Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk in exchange for Hagel.
Raddysh, who played with Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome with the Erie Otters in juniors, scored a third-period goal against Winnipeg and also recorded an impressive assist by setting up Jonathan Toews early in the second period to tie the game at 1-1.
"I'm excited," said Raddysh, who had 5 goals and 7 assists while averaging 11 minutes in 54 games for the Lightning. "Tampa was kind of a tough situation with how good of a team they had. They had a lot of guys that I was behind and kind of lower on the minutes and in and out of the lineup."
Katchouk (2G, 4A in 38 games with Tampa) asserted himself nicely five minutes into the third period when he laid a heavy hit on Pierre-Luc Dubois. He then took no gruff on his way to the bench and nearly fought Dubois. Both players were tagged with roughing penalties.
Katchouk definitely took the trade harder than Raddysh.
"It (stinks) to leave such a winning culture and come into a rebuild," Katchouk said. "But it's part of the process. ... It's just coming in (and) getting more opportunity with the Chicago organization. There's such a rich history in that locker room. I'm just gonna take the positive from it."
Coach Derek King was impressed with both of his new players.
"They're going to be real good additions to this team," King said.
Dylan Strome and Philipp Kurashev also scored for the Hawks, who fell behind 5-2 after yielding 4 unanswered second-period goals. Kurashev's tally trimmed the Jets' lead to 5-4 with seven minutes remaining. DeBrincat nearly tied it five minutes later, but his point-blank shot hit the goal post. Raddysh and DeBrincat had subsequent shots turned away by Connor Hellebuyck, and the Jets (29-24-10) sealed the win on an empty-netter by Blake Wheeler.
Patrick Kane had 2 assists, giving him 52 for the season. Marc-Andre Fleury started in net and made 26 saves.
Slap shot:
The Hawks put defenseman Connor Murphy on long-term injured reserve and forward Tyler Johnson on injured reserve. Both players are in concussion protocol and the moves are retroactive to March 12.