The Chicago Blackhawks can't trade everyone at the deadline

After turning the game off on the 26th, I had to ask myself, "how do the Chicago Blackhawks have a four-game win streak? This is supposed to be a team full of misfits led by a couple of disgruntled veterans. What's going on?" A victorious season was not the plan, and I realized that the team's winning ways could be sabotaged for the future.

Here we are six games into the season, and Chicago sits in third place in the division. I had not prepared myself for this mentally and was ready to see a lot of prospects rack up NHL minutes while the team accrued loss after loss. There are 76 more games to go, so early success might be all the success this team has. We'll see. One thing is for sure, everyone that is playing well could net Chicago a decent return at the trade deadline in March. At the moment, there are numerous players in Chicago exceeding expectations in an organization most everyone wrote off as terrible.

Consider Sam Lafferty's play for a moment. He's actually been a solid player and is finding the back of the net. After six games, Lafferty has five points (2G, 3A). Can he keep this up all season? Is this sustainable? Maybe not, but as a depth forward that can wreak havoc on the penalty kill, with a little offense to boot, Lafferty is showing the league that he can help a team. He's not the only one either.

There have been silly amounts of speculation surrounding Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, but what if Chicago plays well enough that GMs around the league come sniffing around for other players? What does this mean for trade value at the deadline? It was assumed that one or both of these aging stars was on their way out this year, perhaps in search of one more sniff at the Stanley Cup. And what about all these other players that are actually playing well such as Alex Stalock, Jake McCabe, and Connor Murphy?

Chicago can't trade everyone. What's more, the players are proving that they aren't going to support tanking to try and draft Connor Bedard. However, if Chicago's GM Kyle Davidson has anything to say about it, the Blackhawks will end the season as close to the bottom of the standings as possible. To me, this means that Chicago might be a seller at the deadline, potentially waving goodbye to more than just one or two players. Is this a good thing?

Fans will want to turn out to see the home team win games. If the wins keep on coming, what then? The team still needs to make money, and having fans at the games is the best possible way to do that. No one wants to pay top dollar to see a mediocre franchise, especially one that is mediocre on purpose. What's happened so far is a pleasant surprise.

Chicago's success puts the organization in a peculiar bind. Yes, it is too early to really gauge the quality of the team. It is very probable that good teams will find their footing and begin pummeling Chicago on a more regular basis. Chicago was comfortably throttled by the Colorado Avalanche 5-2, and the score doesn't really reveal how lopsided that game was.

The Blackhawks are, for the moment, highly entertaining underdogs. Players are performing at a level that most people didn't expect, and Chicago is winning games. It'll be interesting to see what happens if Chicago continues this run of success. Davidson has gone all in on the rebuild, even trading away Alex DeBrincat who is young enough to have been part of a rebuild.

If there are roster players in Chicago that can keep up their great performances further into the season, Davidson's approach to rebuilding will have gone off the rails for the best possible reason, the players want to win. It'll be interesting down the stretch to see who comes knocking, and for what player as the season progresses. The Blackhawks' season has become much more interesting than most people had anticipated.