Stan Bowman, Please Make Your Decisions on Blackhawks Players Earlier

Stan Bowman keeps adding more former Blackhawks as years go by.

Yesterday the Chicago Blackhawks traded for Vinnie Hinostroza. Stan, if you wanted to bring a player back after trading them, then you should have just kept them.

Yes, I know this was done because of the Chicago Blackhawks’ cap situation, but they usually seem to find their way back to the organization.

Bowman tends to overpay for these former Blackhawks as well, such as the first-round selection he sent to the Winnipeg Jets for Andrew Ladd in 2016. He didn’t do much in the playoffs, scoring two points in seven games with a minus two in the seven-game series against the St. Louis Blues that still hurts to this day.

Vinnie Hinostroza is the next former Blackhawk who Stan Bowman brought back to the organization. This time, he didn’t overpay for a veteran on the decline of their career and traded an AHL-caliber 24 year old forward instead. This is the only “good” trade he has made for a former Blackhawk thus far because he didn’t overpay in the transaction.

Johnny Oduya could be another former Blackhawk Stan brought back on a good price as Mark McNeil didn’t last long in the organization and the fourth round pick didn’t amount to much. But Oduya was on the decline, and was a bad move anyway.

I don’t want to talk about the Brandon Saad trade very much, but that was by far the worst trade for a former Blackhawk, and probably the worst trade in Blackhawk franchise history. Artemi Panarin wanted to stay in Chicago for his entire career, on a steep incline towards stardom, but he was traded for a quality NHL player in Saad.

Bowman thought he knew what he was getting back in Saad, but it didn’t work out and Panarin is now on the New York Rangers. Saad was traded for Nikita Zadorov, who has been picking up his play as of late, but it still stings.

I saw a list of former Blackhawks players Stan Bowman brought back to the organization, and I think some of those players may be on their way back to the franchise. Not in a good way, though. The Blackhawks don’t think they are good enough to win the Cup, so they are using their salary cap to take on bad contracts from other teams for assets for the future.

Who could be next? Well, Andrew Ladd could very well be on his way back, but only if a high draft pick or one of either Oliver Wahlstrom or Noah Dobson comes with him (preferably Dobson). Stan Bowman needs to either make his decisions on his players sooner and not trade them away, or trade assets of equal value for the player he is getting in return.