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

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.