Keeping up with the former Blackhawks traded at the deadline

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Mattias Janmark #13, Chicago Blackhawks (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

During the trade deadline, the Blackhawks traded away a number of players. Their moves honestly put them in a great position and I cannot argue with any of them, so today let’s look at how the other teams’ new guys are doing thus far.

Mattias Janmark is in Vegas. Carl Soderberg is in Colorado. Matthew Highmore is in Vancouver, and Lucas Carlsson and Lucas Wallmark are both in Florida. There are a lot of different players all over the place now. None of these players were huge pieces in the success of the Chicago Blackhawks during the past few seasons, but maybe they will have bright futures with their new teams.

The Blackhawks players the team traded away this past season:

Mattias Janmark –

VEGAS: The Vegas Golden Knights definitely overplayed for Janmark. Chicago got a little bit more than what Buffalo got for Taylor Hall. Janmark has a goal and two assists through ten games with Vegas. His ice time has shockingly increased to over 17 minutes on average. That is something I truly did not expect to see.

Vegas is poised to make a deep playoff run this year, that is if they can get past Colorado in round two. These two teams have long been the top dogs in their division and Janmark is going to be a part of it all.

Janmark is a special kind of player that can shine in any role he is put in. With Vegas, he has been playing on the top line with Stephenson and Stone. Vegas is more of a physical team than Chicago and that is something that will benefit Janmark as he was physical all year with Chicago.

Carl Soderberg –

COLORADO: Soderberg has a history with the Colorado Avalanche. Having spent parts of four seasons with Colorado, it made some sense for him to go back this year. Soderberg went from Colorado to Arizona then to Chicago before heading back to Colorado.

The 35-year-old has never won a Stanley Cup and is now poised to go on a run with the Avalanche a team that also has Brandon Saad on their roster. Soderberg is not a player that is going to average 17 or 18 minutes a night anymore, instead, he is providing the team a little bit of depth during the postseason.

Through eight games back with the team he has two assists. Colorado is not going to have to worry about making the playoffs as their spot is already secured but home ice in the first round is still up for grabs.

Matthew Highmore –

VANCOUVER: Matthew Highmore is going to get a big opportunity with the Vancouver Canucks. Through nine games, Highmore is averaging the highest ice time of his career in the 14-minute range for now.

Highmore has two assists so far with Vancouver but he also has some of his worst Corsi numbers through his first three NHL seasons with a Coris of 44.9. The Vancouver Canucks are definitely leaning on him defensively as Highmore is averaging 72.7 percent of his zone starts to be in the defensive zone.

Lucas Carlsson –

FLORIDA: When this trade was first announced I honestly thought maybe Joel Quenneville was looking to bring back a defenseman he liked having in his system in the past. Then I looked it up, and found out Carlsson never played a game under Quenneville in Chicago – and that has not changed in Florida.

Carlsson has played seven games in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch during which time he has had two goals and four assists. The young defenseman has been rather effective in the AHL but that game has not translated to the NHL yet.

If Carlsson was in Chicago it would probably be best if he was in the NHL, but Florida is not Chicago. They are a deeper team with a better defensive unit. Carlsson is a good player to have around should someone get injured during a potential playoff round, similar to the other player Florida acquired.

Lucas Wallmark –

FLORIDA: For the second straight season, Lucas Wallmark has been traded to the Florida Panthers at the deadline. Luckily Florida knew what they were getting into having traded for the same player again. Obviously, the two went on a nice playoff run last year after meeting in February, oh wait.

Last season, Wallmark played in seven games with Florida he registered a goal and an assist before the pause and he played in two post-season games registering no points. Wallmark has not been able to replicate the success he had with Carolina with Florida or Chicago, and that has not changed during his second stint with the team. Wallmark has gotten into four games with Florida and the best stat to mention is his faceoff percentage is at 57%.

Wallmark is a solid option to provide some depth for a team looking to make a post-season run. The fact that he is a center and can win some faceoff definitely provides some comfort for a team that is an injury or two away from needing someone in their lineup. When it comes to the playoffs the deeper lineup usually wins the longer the series goes.

I know I am going to be watching all these players in the playoffs. Personally, I am super excited to see how far Vegas or Colorado can get with their deep rosters. As well as the excitement to maybe see a battle of Florida in round one!

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