3 reasons why the Chicago Blackhawks did not get fleeced in the blockbuster three-team trade involving Taylor Hall

The Chicago Blackhawks were part of a major trade, but the return coming back to the team sure does not feel like a blockbuster deal.

The Carolina Hurricanes certainly feel like they made out as the winners, getting Taylor Hall from the Hawks and Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche to help them finally win a Stanley Cup.

Colorado may have panicked by trading Rantanen well before the trade deadline without at least trying one or two more times to see if they could extend the star forward. At least they made out with Martin Necas, who still has promise. Plus, Colorado gets a second-round pick in the deal along with a fourth rounder from Carolina.

What did the Blackhawks get? Their third-round pick back that they initially traded to Carolina in last year's draft while carrying 50% of Rantanen's cap hit.

It's not exactly what you want to see the Hawks get back out of using one of their two remaining cap retention spots.

At the same time, the Chicago Blackhawks did not get fleeced in this trade for three reasons...

1) A third-round pick was likely what the market would return to the Hawks for Hall anyway.

The Athletic's Scott Powers (a subscription is required to access content linked) reported a couple of weeks back that he was hearing a third-round selection was what the Hawks would get for Taylor Hall.

There was an outside chance of a second-round choice depending on the salary retained in the deal, according to Powers.

As Power dissected the deal (a subscription is required to access content linked), a second-round pick in this trade was not an option since that was going to Colorado. Instead, the Hawks took on retaining a portion of Rantanen's cap hit to still come away with a pick that will likely be in the draft's top 70.

Tankathon projects that pick to be No. 66 which is a heck of a lot better than the projected No. 84 pick which was the other third-round choice Carolina had to offer. That pick could technically drop as the Hurricanes got that pick from Tampa Bay.

So in essence, the Hawks ended up playing the long game when they traded their 2025 third-round pick in the 2024 draft to get back into the top 100 and take speedy winger Jack Pridham. They then circled back in this draft and got that pick back. That's playing the long game and getting the correct return for Hall.