Top 5 game-changing free agents the Blackhawks can take from the Eastern Conference

With so much cap space for the 2024 offseason, Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson could surprise everyone and make a few blockbuster signings to catapult this team’s rebuild. It’s not likely, but like all ideas in the early stages of the organization’s offseason, it’s another stone we need to turn over. 

This article is also not endorsing the signing of any of the five free agents in this article who are currently residing in the Eastern Conference. My personal style and recommendation for Davidson is simple: Refrain from adding big-time talent from the outside at the moment and keep building from within. If you need to make some signings, go with more low-cost names in the short run until you’re in a position to make acquisitions otherwise. 

But, I also understand the final say rests with Davidson, and the way he builds the Blackhawks is up to him and him only. If he wants to bring in a prize free agent, he can afford it right now before he signs any of the youngsters to long-term extensions. 

Blackhawks have a few game-changing free agents to choose from this summer

Just because we’re talking about game-changing free agents, let’s not confuse it with the notion that all of the names you will see in the following slides are star players. You can make the case for a couple of them, but at least two names are solid complementary scorers who can quickly grasp any system. 

That said, there are also at least two listed who would immediately not just get the Blackhawks light years closer to becoming a relevant team again. But they may also bring even more interest to one of the NHL’s most storied franchises. 

The fifth and first names mentioned in this piece will be the wild card. Some of you may think of them as a good, solid player, and others will call them great. 

Jake DeBrusk, W/Boston Bruins

As mentioned, Jake DeBrusk will be great in some eyes and good in others, as those who look purely at points won’t see him as the most effective player. He scored 19 goals and 40 points in 80 games, and he’s never put up over 50 points in his career, so you can classify those as good, not great numbers. 

But he’s also a physical player who crossed the century mark in hits with 107; he’s stealing pucks the second an opponent gives him the chance, and he can play that physical game while offering complementary scoring on the top-six. In a place like Chicago, the top line is where he could wind up for 2024-25 if Davidson targeted DeBrusk in free agency and brought him to the Windy City. 

DeBrusk, like many names listed, would also provide massive upgrades for the team’s penalty kill and power play units; the Bruins put up 49 goals in the latter category over the last two regular seasons. At even strength, DeBrusk also found himself on the ice for another goal than expected - 47, or 1.3 above 45.7, and for fewer goals against - 43 or 1.3 fewer. 

While DeBrusk’s presence wouldn’t turn Chicago into an immediate contender, he would give them a complete player who is more than just a serviceable talent. 

Sam Reinhart, C/Florida Panthers

It would be tough for even a general manager as talented as Bill Zito to bring back everyone on this tough Florida Panthers team that ranks in the middle of the league in cap space. And it would also be tough to see Reinhart agree to return to a rebuilding team just a few seasons after he left the perpetually rebuilding Buffalo Sabres, so he may be the unlikeliest candidate on this list. 

But as mentioned in the first slide, it’s worth exploring, and it’s not like Kyle Davidson couldn’t afford to entice Reinhart with a deal that would persuade one of the NHL’s best forwards to join the Blackhawks. 

Before this season, Reinhart never scored over 33 goals in a single campaign, and he never logged over 82 points, but he blew both personal bests away in one season with 57 goals and 94 points. 

And remember, Reinhart’s game isn’t exclusive to the neutral and offensive zones, as he will land body checks, blocks, and takeaways, meaning his presence would provide far more scoring opportunities for Chicago. It may be nothing more than a dream at the moment, but remember, Reinhart is just 28, and he has a lot of good hockey left. 

Anthony Duclair, W/Tampa Bay Lightning

Anthony Duclair is another one who may need convincing to join another rebuilding team after he spent most of the 2023-24 season in San Jose - even if the Blackhawks will be better in 2024-25. Duclair couldn’t save the Sharks, nor could the other seasoned veterans who found themselves on the move at around the trade deadline, but he also proved he’s still one of the league’s better scorers when put in the right situation. 

No, he wouldn’t find himself in an ideal setting with the Blackhawks, as they will be a few steps behind Tampa Bay - whom the Sharks traded him to - even if the Lightning start dismantling their own roster. But still, he would have Connor Bedard and Phillip Kurashev, so that’s a much better foundation than what he had in San Jose. 

When Duclair finally got out of that situation, he played in 17 games with the Lightning and put up 15 points, including eight goals. Despite playing most of the year for the league’s worst team, Duclair still ended the season with 24 goals and an 18.6 shooting percentage. 

Like Jake DeBrusk, he also brings a good albeit underrated game when his team doesn’t have the puck, and that goes back to his days in Sunrise and the other six-plus franchises he’s played for. 

Max Domi, W/Toronto Maple Leafs

You may not look at Max Domi as a game-changer, but he’s upgrading any bottom-six he decides to play in, whether it’s in Toronto, Chicago, or somewhere else - like Duclair, Domi is also a journeyman. 

But he’s a jack-of-all-trades player who won’t excel in any one area, but the brewing stars in Chicago will appreciate him more than anyone else. Domi isn’t afraid to rack up penalty minutes and defend teammates, and he will also win a lot of faceoffs. 

He may not be a major scorer, but he does have 103 points, 29 goals, and nine power play goals over his last 160 regular season games to go with 200 penalty minutes and a 52.5 percent faceoff win percentage. 

Overall, if the Blackhawks want more chances in the offensive zone, that could help parlay Bedard and Kurashev into an even better 2024-25 season, and someone like Domi will help them get there. 

So, the five players mentioned in this piece could easily be playing somewhere else next year, and who knows, maybe Kyle Davidson lures one to the Central Division? If that’s the case, feel free to be excited and to project that your Blackhawks may be better than everyone thinks when the puck drops in October 2024. 

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)