Chicago Blackhawks’ Prospects Have Been Trade Bait All Year

The Chicago Blackhawks’ window for winning Stanley Cups may be closing, which is why NHL ice time has been awarded to young players to increase their stock

The Chicago Blackhawks’ superstars are in their prime, their veteran leaders aren’t getting any younger and their prospects have upside. These are are all reasons for the Blackhawks to go all in once again this season.

Great teams in sports know how to get to the top of the mountain and stay on top. For example, the Super Bowl LI bound New England Patriots have been the model franchise in the NFL for the last decade and a half. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have created a winning culture in Foxborough with the concept that nobody is bigger than the team.

Every year, the Patroits surround Brady with role players who are instructed to do their job, and when they do they win games. Because Brady makes other players around him better, ordinary players on the Patriots turn into great players in the eyes of other NFL teams.

Thus, the Patriots are able to sell high on the benefits of their system on role players and buy low on other talented players based on the failure of other teams’ systems.

I know, a lot of economics here, but this does make sense.

The Blackhawks, who share similar league-wide hatred in the NHL, can say the same about their system. With a large cast of role players who have moved on to other teams with significant raises, the Blackhawks continue to develop prospects and move them every year to help them contend for more Stanley Cups.

General manager Stan Bowman knows he doesn’t have 2-3 years to develop these players, but struggling teams do. Hence, Bowman knew all along that in order to compete for another Stanley Cup in 2017, he needed to replenish his trade ammunition to acquire more veteran help at the deadline.

Let’s look at why some of the Blackhawks’ young prospects will be on the move.