Blackhawks' decision to trade Connor Murphy is not as easy as it once was

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Connor Murphy for Niklas Hjalmarsson on June 23, 2017, seemingly the beginning of the end for the Blackhawks' window for the Stanley Cup. This was the same day Stan Bowman traded Artemi Panarin for Brandon Saad, a day I call "The Doomsday Draft". Why? Well, it signified the end of the Blackhawks; both trades seemed questionable at the time, and Panarin wanted to stay with the team, making his trade even worse.

The only trade that worked out for the Blackhawks was the Murphy trade overall. In the eight seasons with the team, he has become a trusted mentor for the talented, young guys as well as a solid guy to have on the PK. Though Louis Crevier has grown into the shutdown role Murphy has held for years, it is important to know just how valuable a veteran is for developing prospects.

Will the Blackhawks finally trade Connor Murphy?

It is easy to say, "Why not just fill the roster with young guys and see how it goes?" and "Who needs veteran leadership when they have the coaching staff?" (I sincerely hope people don't ask the latter question). Every good, young team has veteran leadership, especially on defense. The Montreal Canadiens have Mike Matheson, the Anaheim Ducks have Jacob Trouba and Radko Gudas, and the New Jersey Devils have Dougie Hamilton, Brenden Dillon, and Brett Pesce.

I argue that the Blackhawks' defensemen are not experienced enough as a unit to go with Alex Vlasic as the only "veteran" of the group. The Blackhawks of 2008-2009 had Brian Campbell and Brent Sopel to show a developing Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook how to play the game the right way. Even though Keith and Seabrook were better than those two skill-wise, veterans are just better at reading the game and leading the prospects through experience in the league.

I mean, look at Connor Bedard and how Nick Foligno helped ease him into the league mentally. Bedard has matured over the last two years, and Foligno can take a lot of the credit for it. He is honestly the "dad" of the group, and his leadership truly shows in how the young guys he led can now step up in the short term and wear letters for the team. Could Bedard, Frank Nazar, and Alex Vlasic take over the captaincy? Yes, in theory, but they need more mentorship before stepping into those leadership roles.

Because of this, the Blackhawks should hold on to Murphy and re-sign him short-term this offseason. Could the Blackhawks get a decent draft pick in a move for him? Yes, however, I believe he offers more value as a mentor for the long term than additional draft capital.