Blackhawks busy at trade deadline
The NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche, with a little help from the Blackhawks, keep loading up for what they hope is a deep playoff run.
At Monday's trade deadline, the Avalanche reacquired forward Carl Soderberg, sending unsigned prospect Ryder Rolston and 23-year-old Josh Dickinson to the Hawks. The 35-year-old played four seasons for Colorado from 2015-19 before stints with Arizona and the Hawks.
Soderberg scored 7 goals and added 8 assists in 34 games this season with the Hawks.
The Hawks also acquired Vegas' second-round pick in the 2021 NHL draft and Vegas' third-round selection in the 2022 draft from the Golden Knights and defenseman Nick DeSimone from the San Jose Sharks.
To complete the trade, the Hawks sent Mattias Janmark (Chicago retains 50 percent of his salary-cap hit; $1,225,000) to the Sharks and DeSimone and a fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft to the Golden Knights. Janmark was subsequently traded to Vegas.
Janmark had 10 goals and 8 assists with the Hawks this year.
In addition, the Blackhawks acquired Adam Gaudette from the Vancouver Canucks for Matthew Highmore in an exchange of forwards. Each player had fallen out of favor in his previous organization.
Bowman was understandably pleased with how Monday went but also with how the last week went as he added Vinnie Hinostroza, Brett Connolly, Riley Stillman and the rights to Henrik Borgstrom.
"It's really consistent with what we're trying to do going back to the off-season, which (is) we're trying to rebuild our asset pool and we're trying to bring in some young players," Bowman said. "It's not only about draft picks. ... When you add it all up and you look at what we were able to do, (we're) very happy with where we're sitting today."
Gaudette, who is 6-feet-1, 184 pounds, was the first Canucks player on the league's COVID protocol list when the team had a virus breakout. They're expected to resume the season Friday, though Highmore will have to serve a seven-day quarantine before playing for Vancouver.
Gaudette, 24, had 4 goals and 3 assists in 33 games with the Canucks this season. He posted career highs in games played (59), goals (12), assists (21) and points (33) last year.
"We certainly see the potential in what he brings to the table," Bowman said of Gaudette. "He's a player we're pretty familiar with. He was the linemate for Dylan (Strome) at Northeastern, so I've seen Adam play a lot.
"Thought he had a really good year last year. We're trying to recapture some of that."
The Blackhawks also announced that they acquired a fourth-round pick in the 2021 NHL draft from the Canucks in exchange for defenseman Madison Bowey and a fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft. Bowey had an assist in two games with the Hawks this year.
• John Dietz contributed to this report.