No One Seems to Understand the Chicago Blackhawks Rebuild

I have been eager to address this topic for a very long time.

I was listening to the Chris Johnson Show today, and I heard Julien McKenzie and him begin discussing the Chicago Blackhawks rebuilding strategy over the past several years.

I don't mean to call Johnson or McKenzie out, as they seem like nice guys, but something they said bothered me.

Before they even started, I knew instantly what they were going to say.

Johnson derided the Hawks' decision to trade Brandon Hagel, Kirby Dach and Alex DeBrincat, arguing that doing so stripped the team of all their talent and made rebuilding infinitely more difficult.

The implication being that keeping those players around would have helped insulate the young prospects better than they have been insulated thus far.

Here's the main issue that no one seems capable of comprehending: Without trading those three players, there ARE no young prospects with which to build around.

If you think that I am exaggerating, I'm not. Here are the total returns that those three trades yielded for the Hawks.

Yeah, the Hawks did very well in those trades.

No offense meant to a young Kirby Dach but moving him when the Hawks did was genius. He is a constantly injured player who has never come close to reaching his full potential, the Hawks turned that asset into Frank Nazar and Gavin Hayes.

Trading DeBrincat likewise, although painful at the time, proved to be the obviously correct decision.

He spent one season in Ottawa, underperformed, and then left in free agency to the Red Wings where his presence still hasn't translated into a playoff berth for them.

In exchange for DeBrincat, the Hawks received Kevin Korchinski, who is a near lock to be a long-term top four defenseman. They also added Paul Ludwinski and AJ Spellacy. Spellacy in particular looks to be an absolute steal of a draft pick. Ludwinski meanwhile projects to be a very serviceable bottom 6 forward. Another win for the Hawks.

The most painful one by a mile was trading Hagel in my opinion.

Hagel was an absolute fan favorite and was just scratching the surface of what he could become. This is the only trade in which you can argue that the Hawks came out worse, as Hagel is now a legitimate star in the NHL and such a valuable asset.

However, the Hawks turned Hagel into Boris Katchouk, Taylor Raddysh (yikes), Oliver Moore, and Sacha Boisvert. Both of whom project to be top nine impact forwards at the NHL level. So even though losing Hagel hurts, keeping him would have only prolonged the Hawks' mediocrity.

The point is, that before trading those three guys the Hawks had no obvious path to the playoffs.

The Hawks would have no draft picks whatsoever and no exciting young prospects save for Alex Vlasic and Lukas Reichel. If the Hawks had chosen to keep those guys around, they never would have made the playoffs and would never have rebuilt the prospect pool as they have.

Oh, and by the way, the most infuriating point that people make is the following: "Well those three guys would have been way better help for Connor Bedard!" This one drives me insane.

We would not have gotten Connor Bedard if we had kept those guys! Trading them was essential to tank and go from 26th to 28th place in the league. You had to be near the very bottom to have a chance to win the NHL Draft Lottery and thus draft Bedard. And it worked!

We have Connor Bedard AND all those amazing prospects because we traded Debrincat, Hagel and Dach!

I just don't understand what people don't understand about the history of this Hawks rebuild. It really feels like people have revised history in their minds and that they believe that the Blackhawks already had Connor Bedard in their organization and THEN traded those three guys.

I hear way too many people parroting these ridiculous talking points that somehow Kyle Davidson is idiotic for trading those three players, while also praising the awesome prospect pool that the Hawks have.

People! You cannot have one without the other. It was either DeBrincat, Hagel, and Dach as your core OR Bedard and the amazing prospect pool which will keep the Hawks in contention for years going forward.

So next time you hear someone like Chris Johnson or others berating the Hawks strategy of tanking and misrepresenting the order of events that landed the Blackhawks Connor Bedard and company, remind them that without tanking the Hawks would be about where the Buffalo Sabres are today.

Still pathetic, still nowhere near the playoffs but also without Connor Bedard and without any future whatsoever.