Don't put too much energy into Steven Stamkos trade conversations

As the Chicago Blackhawks continue to play better, the conversations about general manager Kyle Davidson’s handling of the trade deadline will continue to evolve. When the season started, most figured he would likely look to move a couple of veterans with expiring contracts, such as Connor Murphy, Matt Grzelcyk, or Jason Dickinson.

That still might be the plan, but with every day that passes with the Blackhawks in striking distance of a postseason berth, the idea that Davidson could become a buyer instead of seller grows. We are starting to see reports about teams that have underachieved in the first month of the season, looking to make changes. That led to an interesting conversation on Wednesday’s episode of What Chaos.

Is Steven Stamkos or Ryan O’Reilly a Fit in Chicago?

DJ Bean and Pete Blackburn brought in Dimitri Filipovic, the host of The Hockey Podcast, to talk about the happenings around the league. During the course of the conversation, the name of Nashville Predators center Steven Stamkos came up, and whether or not he’d be a fit with the Blackhawks.

“I think a lot of teams would theoretically be in on him just because he is Steven Stamkos and has the name reputation,” Filipovic said. “I don’t know, man. The $8 million he’s owed for two more years after this one is a lot, even with everyone having more cap space. He’s just so limited as a player now. I don’t think a serious contender would look to use their cap space on that. I think it would be a team that’s looking to generate fan excitement.”

Bean then brought up the idea of the Blackhawks trading for Stamkos, seeing where it goes, and if it’s not working out by the trade deadline, flipping him again. The logic is that they can get the Predators to retain some of his salary, then eat a little money when they trade him to get more than they gave up. While this scenario sounds good in your head, actually getting it to play out this way is very difficult and not worth it. Especially when you consider that he has a full no-movement clause. Getting Stamkos to waive that twice in less than half a season is a pipe dream.

Blackburn added that Predators’ center Ryan O’Reilly makes more sense for the Blackhawks than Stamkos. He says they need help down the middle, and he could teach Connor Bedard more of the defensive aspects of the game. While both of those thoughts are true, that’s what assistant coach Michael Peca is here to do, and it’s been working.

Personally, neither Stamkos nor O’Reilly is an excellent fit in Chicago. They don’t need slow, underachieving veterans added to this team. It sure feels like last season wasn’t an outlier for Stamkos, and he is on the downside of his career. If this were two years ago, when Davidson was looking for placeholders with winning experience, bringing in Stamkos would make sense. Right now, he would just be blocking a young player who deserves the playing time. The Blackhawks are not a veteran away from winning the Stanley Cup. The rebuild is working because Davidson has the patience to let it play out. He will likely stay the course and continue to wait for his young core to take shape and learn to win.

It is necessary to state that these are not trade rumors. This isn’t Elliotte Friedman or Frank Seravalli relaying what they’ve heard from their network of NHL informants. This is a conversation among three knowledgeable podcasters. I doubt Davidson would entertain any serious idea about acquiring any of the underachievers in Nashville, at least not at this point in the season.

Better Trade Conversations Exist

Davidson would likely be more interested in seeing what it would take to land a player like Jordan Kyrou from the St. Louis Blues or Tage Thompson from the Buffalo Sabres. They are both far younger and fit the Blackhawks’ current timeline. Kyro is 27, and he's locked up through the 2030-31 season. He has three straight seasons with at least 31 goals. Thompson, who is just 28 years old, is under contract through the 2029-30 season at approximately $1 million per year less than Kyrou. He has scored 158 goals over the past four seasons.

Kyrou and Thompson are two productive players in the middle of the prime of their careers. They made far more sense for this current Blackhawks team than two players whose best seasons are far behind them. Acquiring either of them would be pricey, but Davidson has an armada full of draft picks and prospects to offer. Again, not saying this is going to happen, just having the conversation. Some conversations are not worth putting much energy into.