Apr 1, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) reacts with defenseman Duncan Keith (2), center Jonathan Toews (19) and right wing Jimmy Hayes (39) after the shootout at the United Center. Chicago defeats Nashville 3-2 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to trade deadline day with NHL Network dedicated all day with coverage. Unforunately for them all the big names were dealt yesterday on the eve of the deadline with Jaromir Jagr, Ryane Clowe, Derek Roy all finding new addresses.  I’m sure there will be some more moves throughout the day but this more than likely will not be a day of fireworks that light up the sky, but more of sparklers kind of deadline.

The Hawks look to be done with another pretty quiet deadline week by only aquiring Michal Handzus on Monday.  The Hawks were allegedly in a bunch of talks but of course the Hawks were having to give up a ransom bounty to teams for their players when in the end teams basically gave away the likes of Derek Roy for a second round pick.  Philip Daunault,  Teuvo Treavainen, Jeremy Morin, and Mark McNeil being the names teams wanted in return.  For a GM that covets youth these players are probably not very expendable for a rental player.  The long-term goal is long-term success of the organization at the highest level and a team cannot be that if they throw youth at rentals every year.  I know Easter just passed but all your eggs cannot be in one basket for a organization to be a success for an extended period of time.  Yes, Handzus to me is not very exciting but the Hawks only gave up a 4th rounder for him so the cost was pretty cheap.

There are still middle of the road names that could get moved today but don’t expect a blockbuster because too many teams are still in the playoff race so there aren’t too many sellers.  The Hawks aren’t buyers anyways they are the annoying guy at the flea market or garage sale  that looks for hours only to say THANK YOU at the end of his wondering around and drive away with nothing.

The Hawks added Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp yesterday back to the roster and that will be the best addition of talent to any teams roster in the NHL on this trade deadline.  Stay tuned all day to the trade talk, but in the end the Hawks will be interested in a lot, but they more than likely won’t be pulling the trigger on a trade unless it is classified as a MINOR one.

If any trade does happen we will give you updates as soon as possible.  We are on Twitter @Blackhawk_Up or Friend us on Facebook.

Mar 28, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Islanders defenseman Mark Streit (2) against the Philadelphia Flyers during the third period at the Wells Fargo Center. The Islanders defeated the Flyers, 4-3 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Far from a blockbuster deal, the Chicago Blackhawks acquired Center Michal Handzus from the San Jose Sharks, for a 4th round draft pick.  Blackhawks General Manger, Stan Bowman, has never been one for the trade deadline dramatics, and instead is more prone to minor deals(like the Handzus deal) to give his already solid, and trusted core of players a little help.  With the Handzus trade, Bowman is hoping that it will help with the depth at center, especially in the faceoff dot, where Handzus is winning 55% percent of his draws.  It will be interesting to see which line Handzus is slotted on, but regardless, he will help with the depth at center, and with the Hawks success in the faceoff circle.  A minor move, to give an already very strong team a boost.  A typical Stan Bowman style move.

Now that the Hawks brass have made a move to address the center/faceoffs issue, what about the defenseman depth issue?  It’s no secret that the 2nd defensive pairing for the Hawks of Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya, which started the season very effective, has struggled mightily as of late.  The question is whether they can turn it around, or is new blood necessary for the Hawks to fix this problem, moving forward to the playoffs.  One name that has popped up often is Mark Streit, defenseman and captain for the New York Islanders.  Streit’s situation with the Islanders is that he wants an extension to remain there, however the Islanders(and every other team in the NHL) are reluctant to offer an extension to any player who is 38 years old, and nearing the end of their career, like Streit.  If an extension isn’t signed before the deadline, it is more than likely that he will be traded.

This fits right into Stan Bowmans wheel-house for trades.  Streit would simply be a rental player, and likely not resigned after the season, if he were to be traded to the Blackhawks.  Remember that Bowman isn’t looking to give the team a face-lift at the deadline, he is merely looking to give it a shot of botox for a boost in their run for the Stanley Cup.

Streit is a puck-moving offensive defenseman, which would be a great fit for the Hawks, as they could insert him onto the struggling Power Play unit, to give it a nice boost.  The question is whether he will resign with the Islanders, and if he doesn’t, how much will it take to get him.  Bowman is very stingy when it comes to selling the future, especially for a rental player.  So if the price is right, Mark Streit could very well find himself in an indian head sweater by the end of the week.

Do you think Streit would be a good fit for the Hawks?  If not him, what d-man do you think the Hawks could/should pursue?

Feb 5, 2013; San Jose, CA, USA; Chicago Blackhawks left wing Brandon Saad (20) celebrates with teammate Marian Hossa (81) after scoring a goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at HP Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

While holding down first place in the Central Division and one of the best teams in the NHL 10 games into the shortened season, it seems strange that we even bring up trade deadline talks.  The one thing that GM Stan Bowman seems to shy away from is pulling the trigger on a huge trade.  The real question is… has there even been any blockbuster trades really offered to him? I believe that Bowman really believes that a strong organization from top to bottom is the way to build a lasting championship caliber team and making a big splash just because it’s a deadline is not Bowman’s cup of tea.

The trade deadline talk was discussed before the Sharks game while Bowman also threw out that the Hawks had Stanley Cup potential with this roster.  The question of injuries were talked about with Daniel Carcillo getting back on the ice sometime this week.  Bowman said that  he will be filling in any injuries to the roster  with the youngsters in Rockford.  He called out Brandon Pirri, Jimmy Hayes, and Jeremy Morin as the forwards playing well that could be called up, while Dylan Olsen, Adam Clendening, and Ryan Stanton as defenseman worthy of a call up due to injury.

The real question might be what to do with Carcillo when he returns from injury.  Brandon Saad though not showing it on the scoresheet although he scored his first career goal last night has played well with Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa and has really grown more comfortable each and every game.  I would prefer leaving Saad with the top guns and moving Carcillo to the bottom six.  Time will tell, but it’s great to have so many options which we can all thank Bowman for not getting an itchy finger and holding to his beliefs when everyone was calling for his head.

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Rob Grabowski-US PRESSWIRE

I know its late, but I still feel the need to put in my two cents about what really happened at this year’s trade deadline. Admittedly, I had at least one foot in the camp calling for Stan Bowman’s head, but now that I’ve had a few days to talk to pepole, process my thoughts and try to see the big picture, I’ve been able to at least partially understand why the Hawks’ brass did what they did (or didn’t do) and what that can likely tell us about their plans for the future.

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The scene outside Stan Bowman's office last night.

After reading an afternoon of tweets and statuses from Blackhawks fans, my head hurts.  It amazes me how fast some “fans” have turned.  What exactly was Stan Bowman supposed to do yesterday?  What blockbuster move was there to make?  Who exactly slipped through his fingers that will prevent the Hawks from winning another Stanley Cup?  All the meatballs who are enraged about Bowman doing “nothing” are mind numbing.  Bowman didn’t do “nothing” he is sticking to his plan.

It is no secret what his plan is, it is to build from within.  When Bowman had to trade away key pieces from the Cup team the Blackhawks were left with a few holes.  And let us not forget, Bowman did not “dismantle” that team.  He had to trade away key players because Dale Tallon screwed up of the contracts of Andrew Ladd, Cam Barker and Kris Versteeg.  Having to listen to people say Bowman destroyed the Cup team makes me crazy.  He did what he had to do because of the salary cap, a problem he did not cause.

Since having to trade away the likes of Ladd, Versteeg and Dustin Byfuglien, Bowman has wanted to fill those holes with talent from the system.  Why do you think most of the contract he dished out this past summer were for one year?  The Blackhawks are waiting for the likes of Jeremey Morrin, Brandon Pirri, Dylan Olsen, Andrew Shaw, Jimmy Hayes, and Ben Smith to be everyday contributor s to this team.  There are guys like Mark McNeill and Brandon Saad a litter further down the pipeline.

Bowman dug himself out of salary cap hell last year with the trade of Brian Campbell to Florida.  I loved Soup and this team really misses him, but his 7 million dollar cap hit needed to go.  Did you really want Bowman to trade for Rick Nash?  Trading for Nash and his 7.8 million dollar cap hit for the next six seasons would have put the Hawks right back into that rut.  Don’t forget, both Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane need to be resigned before Nash’s contract expires.  Do you really want to let one of those guys walk because we are overpaying for Nash?  Bowman would have had to give up at least two of the prospects listed above to complete the deal too.  It just isn’t worth it.

Bowman was in on Mikail Grabovsky, but the asking price was too high.  Nashville gave up a 1^st round pick for Paul Gaustead, who is nothing more than a “faceoff guy”.  I am sure he inquired on Derrick Roy as well, and the price was just too high.  Ask the Cubs, White Sox and Bears what it is like to have no talent waiting in the wings.  I have seen the Blackhawks go through talent droughts and it cripples the organization for years!  I don’t want to see that happen again.

Besides, does Grabovsky make Patrick Kane start scoring goals?  Does Gaustead make Duncan Keith play more like a Norris Trophy winner on a nightly basis?  Does Roy fix all the problems on the power play and plenalty kill?  The answers to all these questions are no!  So why trade away the future when most of the Hawks problems can be fixed by the players that are already here?  If the guys being paid to play like stars, in fact play like stars, this team will be ok.  If they continue to phone it in and underachieve then it will be another early exit.

And one last rant, I don’t want to hear any more about John Scott.  I seem to recall the Blackhawks winning a Stanley Cup without the great locker room presence of John Scott.  Please stop with the crap that he protects our superstars.  If he was such a great protector he would be on the ice every game.  Jonathan Toews and Niklas Hjalmarrson would not be missing games with concussions.  The Blackhawks would not be getting outhit nearly every single night.  Scott was the odd man out, and the fact the Bowman got a 5^th round pick for him shows that he is a pretty good GM.

I know it is not ideal to be talking about “plans” and the “future” just a year and a half after hoisting the Stanley Cup.  The ugly business side of hockey showed up and Bowman had to play the cards he was dealt.  I know it tough to preach patience, but let Stan work out his plan.  A plan he had to put into action because of events that occurred before he showed up.

Tim Gleason will not be a Blackhawk this season (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The Carolina Hurricanes have signed defenseman Tim Gleason to a four year $16 million contract.  This takes one of the best potential free agent blue liners off the trade market.  I wrote earlier today that Gleason was on top of my trade deadline wishlist, so it looks like I jinxed it.  Couple this with the Anaheim Ducks resigning Fracois Beauchemin to a three year deal, the trade market for defensemen has become much weaker.  This is why Stan Bowman gets paid the big bucks.  A top 4 defensemen is one of the Blackhawks biggest needs so it will be very interesting to see what StanBow comes up with.