The Chicago Blackhawks Core Players Control Their Own Destiny

The Chicago Blackhawks core four players have been through a lot with the team over the past decade. They control their own destinies.

Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook have been with the Chicago Blackhawks since being drafted. For Keith and Seabrook, they have been Blackhawks for almost 20 years now. It is the offseason, and with the team announcing they are doing their best to rebuild their next championship roster, it is okay to speculate about potential trades. Still, these four players control their own destiny and might be off-limits.

The Chicago Blackhawks are not going to get a trade going involving any of the team’s core four unless they agree. All four guys have no-movement clauses and are signed for the next few seasons. Even if fans speculate about what a great return would be for Kane or Toews, it is not like we will see that deal ever happen.

Stan Bowman has a juggling act on his hands, one that can not simply be solved through a trade. I have been reading many potential trade offers for Jonathan Toews the past week. While I understand the offseason’s speculation, it is a little ridiculous to think any of the deals will happen.

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Toews and company have played their entire career thus far with Chicago. They take up a decent chunk of the team’s salary cap, and they all are in a unique position of being franchise players for this organization. When looking at the history of the Chicago Blackhawks and the NHL, not many teams have had a core group stick together as these four have, and it will probably never be done again in Chicago.

While Jonathan Toews did air his complaints in the past about the team not bringing back Crawford and trading Saad, he has not asked for a trade since then. Neither has any of the Blackhawks other core members; otherwise, we would have seen them be dealt by now if they were not on board.

I am not trying to say we won’t see one of these guys moved in the future. However, even though teams should put in a trade offer to the Blackhawks for these stars, it does not mean these players will be moved.

Toews and Kane still have five or so years left in the NHL, and they do still have a few good years of elite-level hockey in them. The ‘Hawks knew what they were getting into when they gave out their matching contracts at 10.5 million. If their stars want to stay in this city and finish their careers, that is what Chicago will see happen.