Blackhawks stand pat on NHL trade deadline day
On a wild trade deadline day in which Vegas, Nashville, San Jose and Columbus loaded up for potential long playoff runs, the Blackhawks opted to stand pat.
A smiling Stan Bowman met the media shortly after 2 p.m. at MB Ice Arena and admitted a couple of deals almost got done, but in the end he felt it was better to keep the roster unchanged.
“We weren't determined to make a trade just to make you guys happy,” Bowman said. “It had to make sense for where we're at for short-term and long-term. Just nothing came together today.”
Really, that should come as no surprise for a 26-28-9 team that is 5 points out of a wild-card berth and nowhere near being a Stanley Cup contender this season.
With all the defensive depth in their system, there were some who believed the Hawks might move Erik Gustafsson or another blue liner.
After all, Henri Jokiharju, Adam Boqvist, Nicolas Beaudin, Ian Mitchell, Blake Hillman, Chad Krys and others figure to fight for a roster spot next season. It's not a bad situation for Bowman to be in, though, as any of them could beat out a Gustav Forsling, Carl Dahlstrom or Slater Koekkoek.
“Having too many players, I've never been concerned about that,” Bowman said. “I would much rather have lots of options. Because when you do, then you can use them to fill in the gaps somewhere else.”
Let's not forget that Bowman could also make trades after the Stanley Cup Final and/or when free agency opens up July 1.
Plus, Bowman already pulled off two of the biggest deals in the NHL this season when he sent Nick Schmaltz to Arizona for Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini, and then fleeced the Oilers by acquiring Drake Caggiula for Brandon Manning.
“Reshaping your team doesn't happen overnight,” Bowman said. “It's a process. It's not one or two moves. I think the process has begun already with some of the trades that we have made.”
One issue Bowman would not shed any light on was whether or not he inquired about Brent Seabrook's willingness to waive his no-movement clause. On Feb. 4 — a day after Elliotte Friedman reported that the Hawks had asked Seabrook if he would waive it — Seabrook said: “I haven't been approached by anybody.”
Here's what Bowman said Monday: “I don't want to get into that. I think once we start, then we're going to ask the next guy and the next guy. So I don't want to approach those conversations.”
As for the rest of the league, the Blue Jackets and Golden Knights made the most noise over the last few days.
Many figured Columbus would attempt to trade soon-to-be unrestricted free agents Artemi Panarin and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, but instead bolstered their roster by acquiring forwards Matt Duchene and Wheaton's Ryan Dzingel, defenseman Adam McQuaid and goalie Keith Kinkaid.
Vegas, meanwhile, nabbed Mark Stone about 15 minutes before the deadline expired. Stone, who has 28 goals and 34 assists, then signed an eight-year, $76 million extension.
Erik Brannstrom, a high-quality D-man prospect who was playing for the Chicago Wolves, was sent to Ottawa as part of the deal.
Minutes after the deadline, it was announced that Nashville acquired Philadelphia forward Wayne Simmonds in exchange for Ryan Hartman and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2020. The Predators also acquired Mikael Granlund from Minnesota in exchanged for Kevin Fiala.
Other big deals included Winnipeg acquiring Kevin Hayes (14G, 28A) from the Rangers, and San Jose acquiring Gustav Nyquist (16G, 33A) from Detroit.
Bowman was asked if the moves made him “wistful” for years past when the Hawks were loading up for a run at the Stanley Cup.
“There's a lot of deals made today, (but) there's only one team that's going to win,” Bowman said. “Some teams didn't do anything, so it could be one of those teams (that wins it all). Half of these teams are going to lose in the first round. There's always two sides to it.
“But you know you can't necessarily wish you're somewhere else. This is where we are, and we're excited about the fact that we've shown progress and the future's bright.”