The Blackhawks could have used JJ Peterka, but not at the cost of their young defensemen

The hope was that the Chicago Blackhawks could leverage their draft assets to acquire a budding star player like JJ Peterka.

The problem was that the Buffalo Sabres wanted a player of similar quality in return, according to the Athletic's Blackhawks beat writer Scott Powers (subscription required). It turns out they wanted a young right-shot defenseman.

If that meant moving Artyom Levshunov or Sam Rinzel, that was going to be too high a price for a 23-year-old forward who scored 23 goals last season.

That is why it is fine that Utah paid the price rather than the Blackhawks.

Utah is sending right-shot defenseman Michael Kesselring and young forward Josh Doan to Buffalo. While some feel the return the Sabres got is light, if Buffalo was dead set on a right-handed shot blueliner, then there was no way the Hawks were going to give up Levshunov or Rinzel.

Those are two youngsters who could potentially win the Norris Trophy. Levshunov could be this rebuild's Duncan Keith. Rinzel has immense offensive talent with great size to disrupt opponents' scoring chances.

Peterka is a fine player, but the Blackhawks have the No. 3 pick in tomorrow's draft to add a bigger, scoring forward without having to hand out an extension or give up young talent. In fact, the team can add a younger player on a cheap entry-level deal with whomever they select with the third pick.

That is not to say the Blackhawks could have used Peterka. The Hawks must upgrade their top six this offseason. The front office believes the only way to get those upgrades is through the trade market.

If adding Peterka would have cost a potential core player on the blueline, just to add another core piece to the forward group, then it is better to explore other avenues of upgrading the top two lines. Especially since while the team's young defensemen are promising, they are limited. The franchise cannot afford to just give up some of the talented blueliners because they only have about six or eight of them.

Using the team's cap space or the two first-round picks does nothing to stop the development of a potential elite defensive unit. Trading a player like Rinzel or Levshunov for Peterka would have stunted that potential growth, so it is good the Hawks did not pay the price.