"Yaying” or “Naying” your Blackhawks trade offers

With the trade deadline being three weeks away, I thought it’d be fun to go through some hypothetical trade offers involving the Blackhawks. NHL 22 GM mode if you will. Thanks to everyone who sent in offers and I’m looking to do more interactive articles like this in the future.

Note – trades must make sense for both sides.

Being a hot topic in trade bait, there were a couple deals involving Brandon Hagel.

@ThePriceIsRyte - Brandon Hagel (50% retained) to Tampa Bay for a 2022 1st and a prospect (Antoine Morand).

I’d say nay to this because I feel you can get a better prospect for Brandon Hagel. While any potential first round pick you get at the deadline will be in the mid 20s at earliest, it’s Tampa Bay. That pick is likely going to be 32nd overall. 23 year old forward Antoine Morand, who has just 8 points in 32 games with Syracuse of the AHL, simply isn’t good enough prospect to trade Hagel for. Especially if he’s being half retained.

@iamMikeA - Hawks trade Brandon Hagel for Toronto’s 2022 first round pick and Nick Robertson

I’ll yay this one because Nick Robertson is a legitimate forward prospect. Again, the first round pick they receive from Toronto will likely be in the late 20s to early 30s, though Robertson could be a potential top six option for the Blackhawks down the road. While he’s been out most this season due to an injury, the 20 year old has 8 points in 9 games with Toronto of the AHL, and recently got called up to the Maple Leafs. That’s the kind of prospect the Blackhawks should be targeting if they’re going to trade Brandon Hagel.

Here’s a couple of offers involving Marc-Andre Fleury.

@TexanChicagoFan - Colorado gives 1st round pick and #1 prospect in return for Marc-Andre Fleury.

Nay. The thing is, I don’t think Colorado would do this. They already traded their 2022 first round pick for Darcy Kuemper, it’d be hard to see them trade a 2023 first round pick for Fleury when Kuemper is playing well. While getting a first round pick of any year and prospect would be nice for Chicago, this has to make sense for both teams, and it doesn’t make sense to Colorado for me.

@DrewMedema9 - Marc-Andre Fleury to Pittsburgh for a 2022 1st round pick and 2022 4th round pick

Yay. If you get a first round pick Fleury after acquiring him for nothing, that would be a massive win. It also makes sense from Pittsburgh’s end of things. While Tristan Jarry has a .919 save percentage, he had a rough go in last year’s playoffs, and Fleury could be brought back to Pittsburgh for insurance. It’d be pretty cool to see that reunion and see Flower go for his fourth cup with a team that has a legitimate shot at it.

Here’s a couple of big trades, especially the last one.

@JRKANE881 - To Florida: Calvin De Haan (50% retained), Dominik Kubalik, 2022 fifth round pick; To Chicago: Frank Vatrano, Justin Sourdif, 2023 second round pick

Yay. Justin Sourdif is a solid forward prospect and Frank Vatrano could provide depth goal scoring if the Blackhawks choose to re-sign him after this season, and having a another second round pick helps. Florida gets two pieces with Calvin De Haan and Dominik Kubalik that’ll help them make a run for the Stanley Cup.

@StrateWhiteMail - To New York: Patrick Kane (half retained), Henrik Borgstrom; To Chicago: Kaapo Kakko, Vitali Kravtsov, Filip Chytil, 2022 first round pick, 2023 second round pick

Yay. While it’d suck to see Patrick Kane go, this would be massive for Chicago to help kickstart their rebuild. Kakko and Kravtsov really haven’t worked in New York yet - Kravtsov is in Russia - but they both have a ton of potential. Chytil has proven the most out of the three forwards and is a center. More young forwards in the pipeline is exactly what the doctor ordered. It’d also be cool to see Kane reunited with his good friend Artemi Panarin and compete for a Stanley Cup.