Has the Market Passed by the Blackhawks

Last night the Toronto Maple Leafs made their big move by trading for Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari. They gave up (in my view) way too much (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round picks on top of Adam Gaudette and prospect Mikhail Abramov).

This all for 2 players that will be UFAs and are well above 30. Not only that, but their numbers tend to tell a story that they are on the decline. So why couldn't the Blackhawks make such a move?

We've heard ad nausea about how Patrick Kane would inform Kyle Davidson about his plans 8-10 days before the deadline. Well, after seeing 1st round picks go for Bo Horvat, Vladimir Tarasenko, and now Ryan O'Reilly it's clear that the market has passed us by.

That's 3 teams in the market for forwards that decided to go in a different directions. Will Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty, or Patrick Kane still be dealt? Perhaps, but one thing is now clear: we have missed the market by waiting.