Chicago Blackhawks: Stan Bowman’s 7 Worst Trades as GM

5. Antti Raanta (2015)

Trading away Antti Raanta was another bad move by Bowman. Raanta has found a lot of success in the NHL, even on really bad teams.

I don’t want to hear the expensive excuse, he is cheaper than Robin Lehner. In Raanta’s Blackhawk career, he went 20-9-5. His GAA was 2.41, something that kept a lot of his bad teams in games.

The past few seasons, he’s kept the Coyotes afloat. They currently hold a wildcard spot, something the Blackhawks have failed to grasp. Everything they get close, they go on a losing streak. It happened last year, and it’s happening again this year.

Besides that, Raanta was a great backup for Corey Crawford. It was between him and Scott Darling, Darling would get the nod to stay over Raanta. Soon, both goalies would be gone. It left the Blackhawks with no true starter.

Crawford would be sidelined with injuries once both men left the team. It’s part of the downfall of the Blackhawks. If Raanta would have been re-signed, a lot of things would have been different.

He was worth $1,000,000 AAV until his most recent contract. He signed a $4,250,000 AAV deal with the Coyotes. In Chicago, he was a two-way player, so he filtered his time between Rockford and Chicago.

Trade Details:

Who even is Ryan Haggerty? That’s all.

Was It Worth It?

Heck no. That was another terrible decision by Bowman. The Blackhawks have been robbed of more deep playoff runs because of decisions like this. Even though Raanta is now 30, he would be a better fix for Crawford.

A Raanta/Lehner Blackhawks’ tandem could win a Stanley Cup. You add Leddy to that defensive core, all bets are off.