One player the Blackhawks could shockingly trade away in the 2024 offseason

While they aren’t expected to contend soon, getting even younger should be a goal for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2024 offseason. One way to do that? Trade some current players elsewhere, and perhaps even move someone few, if anyone, would expect them to. 

General manager Kyle Davidson should be looking for young talent on the trade block, and while there isn’t much talent to give away in the Windy City, there are a few players he should still be willing to part ways with if the right trade asset came up. 

But Davidson wouldn’t just trade anyone, so the criteria for pulling off a move like this must involve a player who has a modest salary and one who can produce. Yet productivity was tough for a Blackhawks team that only saw two players - Connor Bedard and Philipp Kurashev - record more than 50 points. 

That doesn’t mean the cupboard is barren, as there were also two players who logged over 20 goals, and no, Kurashev wasn’t that other player. Instead, it was Jason Dickinson, who also shined with a 17.5 shooting percentage. And he would be one player who, though shocking, could find himself on the move should there be a young player Kyle Davidson would want to trade for. 

A Jason Dickinson trade would be shocking yet solid move for the Blackhawks

Okay, so if Jason Dickinson is only heading into his age-29 season, and he was also one-half of the Blackhawks leading scorers, why trade him? One reason is that a potential contender could afford his contract, which sits at a reasonable $4.85 million this season and just $3.65 million in 2025-26. 

That’s not a bad number, and Dickinson is still young enough to give a contending team at least two good seasons and maybe more. While this would also be the case in Chicago, a hypothetical trade here would involve acquiring a younger player, meaning another name that could potentially play alongside forwards like Connor Bedard and Philipp Kurashev for 10-plus years, and that’s something Dickinson can’t offer at this stage in his career. 

However, if the Blackhawks figured to be a better team in 2024-25, trading someone like Jason Dickinson would be unbelievable. At this stage, it’s cool to be skeptical about a potential trade involving him and shocking would be a proper way to describe a trade if one took place. 

That said, it’s also not entirely unreasonable if it meant bringing in another young player. Either a prospect who is now NHL-ready, or someone who completed a season or two with some experience on a big club and would fare better in a place like Chicago in terms of getting ice time in exchange for a productive, full-time player. 

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)