Chicago Blackhawks, Patrick Sharp Are Not A Trade Match

Some Chicago Blackhawks fans want Patrick Sharp to return to the team, but that seems unlikely to happen

Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman announced earlier this year that the Blackhawks will stand pat at this year’s trade deadline. This would be the first time in his tenure as GM that Bowman would not make a deal at the trade deadline. He always makes a move to try to make the Blackhawks better, so nobody believes he is standing pat.

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The prevailing rumor is that Bowman will reacquire old friend Patrick Sharp from the Dallas Stars. As I stated before, Bowman loves to reacquire former Blackhawks, the most recent example being Brian Campbell.

While everything points to the Blackhawks reacquiring Sharp, there are three main reasons why the deal will not happen.

Cap hit/price tag

The first reason the Blackhawks won’t reacquire Sharp is because of his cap hit.

It is the reason the Blackhawks had to trade him away in 2015. Sharp currently carries a cap hit for the season of $5.9 million. He has an accumulated cap hit of $4,293,889 and has a remaining daily hit of $1,606,111, per Cap Friendly.

Before making some additional cap space by sending down Tanner Kero, Vincent Hinostroza, Nick Schmaltz and Gustav Forsling during the bye week, the team only had $732,830 in total cap space. Now the Blackhawks’ current space is $2,692,029 and their deadline space will be $3,297,735.  

Also, Bowman has stated that he is not trading any of his young players or draft picks. If Kimmo Timonen cost the Blackhawks two second-round picks in 2015, what would be the price tag on Sharp?

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Remember, Timonen had not played all year and was coming off blood clot troubles. With the Blackhawks having to make more cost-cutting moves prior tonext season, does trading draft picks make sense? The answer is no. The Blackhawks need to hold on to to picks and younger cost-controlled assets for the future.

Health concerns

Sharp has only appeared in 34 games this season. He has been hampered by injuries this season.

He suffered from concussion-like symptoms on October 21st and did not return till November 19th for the Stars. He also suffered an undisclosed injury on December 3rd and did not return till the end of December.

It is widely believed he’s had two concussions this season. At the age of 35 with two significant injuries this season alone, he is now an injury risk.

No longer a top-line talent

Sharp currently plays on the third line with the Dallas Stars. In his last season with the Blackhawks, during their 2015 Stanley Cup run, Sharp found himself on the third line with Antoine Vermette and Teuvo Teravainen.

According to Left Wing Lock, Sharp spends the majority of his time with Radek Faksa and Devin Shore. Both Faska and Shore are not top-line guys and probably will never will be. Sharp is also having the worst year of his career in Fenwick, Corsi and PDO.

As much as people love Sharp, it is probably best for the Blackhawks not to reacquire him. Sharp is a sexy name to get the fan base charged up about the deadline, but does he make the team better?

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The answer is no. He also does not solve the long-term problem of the Blackhawks needing a top-line left wing. The Blackhawks need to find a long-term solution before trying for a rental.