Chicago Blackhawks: 5 Stan Bowman Moves I Wish Were April Fools Jokes

4 – Teravainen, Bickell to the Hurricanes

NHL.com provides us with the official details of this less-than-great Chicago Blackhawks trade:

"“Forwards Teuvo Teravainen and Bryan Bickell were traded to the Carolina Hurricanes by the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday for a second-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in the 2017 draft.”"

For me, it’s hard to fathom what exactly the Chicago Blackhawks were thinking when they traded Teuvo Teravainen to the Carolina Hurricanes. First, in 2013-14 the Blackhawks signed Bryan Bickell to a four-year deal worth $16 million.

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His play in the playoffs made Bowman think he was worth that much and, though it was an overpay, it wouldn’t have been that terrible had Bickell not regressed the way he did. It wasn’t until  November of  2016 that Bickell was diagnosed with MS, explaining a lot about the way the end of his career panned out.

Bickell would only play 11 games for Carolina before retiring from the NHL. He went out on top, scoring a shootout goal on his final shot in the final game of his career.

Bowman clearly wanted to get Bickell’s contract off the books, this much is true, yet when he was traded there was only two years left on his contract. Additionally, Teravainen wasn’t set to become a free agent until the same summer Bickell’s deal expired. Couldn’t Bowman have theoretical kept them both, then let Bickell walk once his contract was up and sign Teuvo with the same money?

I digress.

Trading Teravainen to rid of Bickell’s deal is an example of Bowman’s ability to recognize his mistakes, however he overcorrected on this one. Teravainen has come into his own since being traded to Carolina and has emerged as a solid top-six player.

He’s done nothing but improve year after year. His point totals, ATOI and plus/minus have increased every single season, while his Corsi for % has also been +50% since he was shipped to Carolina.

He’s currently enjoying a 72 point season (20 G, 52 A). He would rank 4th on the Chicago Blackhawks this season in points and fifth in goals, and he’s doing so while playing for the Hurricanes.

Now imagine the kind of season he’d be having if he were playing with guys like Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome or Patrick Kane.

That hurts.

In return, the Chicago Blackhawks received a draft pick which became Artur Kayumov and required their own pick which turned into Evan Barratt. Fortunately, Barratt is tearing it up for Penn State this season with 43 points (16 G, 27 A) in 32 games. He look like he could have a legitimate NHL career, so not all hope is lost.