What Should The Blackhawks Do With Petr Mrazek?

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Petr Mrazek has been one of the Hawks' best and most consistent players all season. With his trade value high, should the Blackhawks hold on to Mrazek or move him for future draft picks?

The Blackhawks have found themselves in familiar territory as they sit in 31st place in the NHL with 21 points and a 10-20-1 record. They're on pace to be a bottom-five team this season, so come the trade deadline the Hawks will most likely make some moves to add more draft picks to their repertoire.

With Petr Mrazek playing as well as he is with an 8-10-0 record, a .910 save% and 3.04 GAA, the Blackhawks could get a solid return if GM Kyle Davidson were to move Mrazek.

The Hawks are well prepared for the 2024 NHL draft with two first-round picks, three second-round picks and two third-round picks so adding draft picks to the 2025 draft should be the move for Davidson at this moment.

Best case scenario, the Blackhawks trade Mrazek to add a third second-round pick or a third first-round pick, if they're lucky, to the 2025 draft. Worst case scenario, the Blackhawks keep Mrazek for the year or Davidson settles for anything less than a third-round pick.

If Mrazek were to be traded, the Hawks' goaltending situation would still be in great shape. With top goalie prospects like Drew Commesso, Jaxson Stauber and Adam Gajan, moving Petr Mrazek would mean more ice time for one of these goaltenders.

With the Blackhawks looking to compete in the next few years, giving one of these goalies ice time to get them adjusted to NHL play would be very beneficial before the high-stakes games come into play.

The NHL trade deadline is a couple of months away on March 8th so it could be a while until rumors start swirling around Mrazek. But if Mrazek keeps playing as well as he is, the likelihood of the Hawks receiving a second-round and potentially a first-round draft pick come trade deadline day will be high.

One team, in particular, the Hawks should be looking to trade Mrazek to is the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes sit in the second wild card in the East and have been having issues in net.

Neither of their two goalies, Pyotr Kochetkov or Frederik Andersen, have a save percentage over .900 and the Hurricanes just put goaltender Antti Raanta on waivers after posting a .854 save% and a 3.61 GAA through 14 games.

Mrazek spent three years with the Hurricanes from 2018-2021 so heading to Carolina would be familiar territory for him.