3 players the Blackhawks can steal from the Avalanche in NHL free agency

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The Chicago Blackhawks have a few division rivals who made the playoffs this season, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try and sign one (or more) players with postseason experience. One team, the Colorado Avalanche, loaded up their lineup during the trade deadline on players who had less than a year to go on their respective deals, so they have quite a few potential rentals that may test the free agent market in one way or another.

The players listed below have all proven they can be effective NHLers, and they all have a lot of hockey to play. One particular player, Brandom Duhaime, is someone we discussed previously, so he’s one player the Blackhawks should look hard into signing who won’t be listed.

While Duhaime would make an impact if he signed with the Hawks and they inserted him on their lower lines, the following two forwards and one defenseman factor in as even greater players.

Casey Mittelstadt, F

While Casey Mittelstadt will be a restricted free agent and is likely heading back to Denver, there is always the outside chance he doesn’t sign a new deal with the Avalanche and/or would be eligible to go elsewhere if he signs an offer sheet (which would require compensation that the Blackhawks have) or if negotiations break down via arbitration. So, Mittelstadt deserves to be on this list despite his RFA status, thanks to how well he’s played over the past two seasons.

Following his epic 2022-23 outing when he finished the year with 59 points with the Buffalo Sabres, Mittelstadt ended the 2023-24 regular season with another 57, and he notched a career-high 18 goals.

He’s also been beyond epic during the NHL playoffs, with two goals and eight points through nine games, and that means the Avalanche will likely give him a well-deserved contract extension.

Yakov Trenin, F

If the Blackhawks didn’t want to go through the trouble of seeing if they could land a talent like Casey Mittelstadt thanks to restrictions, they could always opt for another recently traded player in Yakov Trenin. Trenin won’t score or put up helpers often, as seen by his 17 points in the regular season and six career playoff points in 19 outings as of May 14th, but he’s a strong middle-six player who’s well-known for the plays he makes defensively.

Trenin employs powerful body checks to dismantle sequences, which would lead to more scoring opportunities for a team that lacked them this past season. Chicago won’t finish second-to-last next season in shots on goal, where they landed just 26.2 per game, with an addition like Trenin.

He may have landed 207 hits in the regular season and another 28 in the playoffs, but he’s not the one-dimensional player some big hitters are. He had 44 takeaways this year, so Trenin is also someone who can steal the puck, drive it through the neutral zone, and serve as the catalyst for sequences in the offensive zone.

We also know this because his 51.5 Corsi For at even strength was over 17 percentage points higher than that of his offensive zone starts, which sat at just 34.1 percent. He won’t help the Blackhawks put up more points with helpers and goals, but he will set up teammates to put up the points instead.

Sean Walker, D

This one is a far cry, but defenseman Sean Walker deserves to be mentioned here just in case general manager Kyle Davidson doesn’t bring back Nikita Zaitsev, Jarred Tinordi, or Jaycob Megna, all of whom are in their 30s and don’t factor in as long-term fixtures.

While Sean Walker will enter his age-30 season, and one that looks counterintuitive to what Davidson should do, it’s not a bad idea to give a late-bloomer serious consideration. Before he played 63 games with the Philadelphia Flyers and another 18 with the Avalanche, Walker saw just 232 contests with the Los Angeles Kings from 2018-19 to 2022-23.

He put up 67 points, 16 goals, 63 takeaways, 253 hits, and 309 blocks, which, when broken down to a five-year span are, at best, average. If most critics expected average out of Walker this season, they were wrong, as he scored 10 goals and 29 points, with 41 takeaways, 127 blocks, and 118 hits, so it made sense that he also recorded a career-high in average time on ice.

Walker, despite heading into his age-30 season in 2024-25, has shown he can sign a longer, more lucrative deal, and he will probably keep playing like a blueliner in their prime for the next few seasons at least. Sure, it’s counterintuitive on the surface, but after some thought, Walker would be an outstanding signing.

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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)

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Casey Mittelstadt, F

Yakov Trenin, F

Sean Walker, D

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