Blackhawks: Five thoughts over halfway through the regular season

It is hard to imagine that the Chicago Blackhawks season is already more than halfway over.

Fans have already seen a ton of great hockey from the Chicago Blackhawks, and I can not wait to see where the team ends the year. Today, let’s look at five thoughts about the team over halfway through the regular season.

1 Stan Bowman has an interesting trade deadline ahead:

Stan Bowman has had some tough trade deadlines in the past. I am sure that it is more fun to sit back at the deadline and just give up a first-rounder in order to bring in a talented veteran like Antoine Vermette for a playoff run; however, the Blackhawks can still have some fun this April.

The NHL trade deadline is set for April 12th, but with players needing to quarantine and deal with more restrictions than ever before due to COVID-19, expect some moves ahead of the deadline by a week or two.

The Blackhawks are not going to be buyers at the deadline. While it would be nice to think they are in a position like that, they truly are not. This team is still growing, and buying a player just to make the playoffs or push for it would not make sense.

Instead, the team is probably going to try and utilize their cap space in a way to take advantage of some teams. If the Blackhawks can take a part of a contract for this season and maybe even next year then they could bring in a nice draft pick.

Drafting high-end talent is what this rebuild is all about, and considering the cap space is available right now, why not use it during a flat cap era? A lot of teams are up against the cap, and they are desperate to bring in some talent during a time when only four teams per division make the playoffs.