One extension, one trade, one target that will fast-track the Blackhawks rebuild

The Blackhawks still look like they’re more than a few light years away from contending again. But there’s always a chance they can take a shortcut or two, and that may get them there faster. No, really, it might actually happen this time, even if a couple of these suggestions seem counterintuitive. 

And no, I didn’t mention that they should make a big trade to give Connor Bedard top-line talent to help him out. So don’t ask. Not that it can’t happen, though. Instead, these are a few under-the-radar moves (mostly) that the Hawks can make if they’re interested in speeding up this rebuild a little. 

The first suggestion seems obvious, but the next two you may not have thought about. One involves a specific trade, and that’s all the information I’m giving away on it. As for the last one? A specific acquisition. 

Extend Ryan Donato

This one’s the given, right? While Ryan Donato’s 62-point, 31-goal season is an outlier, he’s not the kind of player who will demand massive sums of money to stick around. He’ll cost more than a $2 million cap hit, but Donato’s still not someone you would call a star player. And no, he’s not hitting 31 goals or 62 points again. 

Still, Donato showed he can be a promising depth scorer, and he’s someone who will continue to bring a physical edge to this young Blackhawks team. While he’s not a youngster himself, Donato is young enough to stick around as a core player on this team, heading only into his age-29 season next year. 

Look for him to stick around in the Windy City, as he’d be a great asset to keep overseeing the rebuild, given his experience, grit, and ability to perform at a high level when he needs to. At the absolute worst, he’s a solid stopgap until another long-term answer at forward is ready to roll. 

Trade Connor Murphy

This one might be an unpopular opinion, but the Blackhawks need to be shedding their 30-something-year-old players. Slowly, anyway, and we saw them do that when they sent Craig Smith and Petr Mrazek to Detroit. That trend needs to continue, and although Connor Murphy’s a respected player in the locker room, they need to make room for younger talent. 

Plus, Murphy’s physical enough and gets in front of pucks well enough to where a contender for 2025-26 will see value in him, likely for a third-pairing role. If the Blackhawks weren’t so many years into their rebuild, I’d push to keep him around, but right now, they need to transition more NHL-ready players faster.

Murphy has a 10-team no-trade list for the 2025-26 season, but with a manageable contract and just one year remaining, it shouldn’t be hard to find him a new home. 

Acquire a defensive forward

Joe Veleno was one of my favorite acquisitions at the trade deadline just over two months ago. Veleno’s arrival meant getting rid of two older players who weren’t going to do much for the Blackhawks when the team eventually started winning. And by ‘do much,’ I really mean nothing at all. 

You can’t deny that Veleno showed up, racking up seven points and three goals in 18 games, and a minus-9. I can ignore the minus-9, since the Blackhawks were so bad, a negative rating was a guarantee. Still, he finished with 46 hits and became a force on that bottom six. 

That’s something the Hawks must find one more of. This one could tie in to the Connor Murphy trade. It would involve the same tactics: Get rid of an older player and bring in someone on the middle six or even the bottom six. Someone who can land body checks and help out those young goaltenders.