Arizona Coyotes Hunting For Points Against Blackhawks

Alex Temes spoke with Greg Bradshaw of Blackhawk Up about the Chicago Blackhawks.

Alex Temes (AT): In recent years, the Blackhawks have been big buyers at the trade deadline. Given how the team has a diminished prospect pool and very limited cap space, what kind of moves do you anticipate Stan Bowman making as the deadline nears?

Greg Bradshaw (GB): As usual, I anticipate the Blackhawks will be buyers at the trade deadline. It comes as no surprise as the core is aging and window for winning is still as open as ever. However, there are still quite a few relevant prospects that i would hate to see go in some sort of package deal for a trade deadline pick up. Alex DeBrincat is the biggest one that comes to mind. DeBrincat leads the entire OHL in points (81) and goals scored (38), and practically fell into the ‘Hawks’ lap in the second round of last year’s draft.

The Blackhawks are as thin as ever this year and are in drastic need of depth. Depth has been key to previous Stanley Cup runs, and this year the ‘Hawks’ bottom six is rather scarce. Along with a bottom six forward, the Blackhawks have searched desperately for a top LW to pair with Jonathan Toews. This could be the year GM Stan Bowman makes a huge splash and goes after a player such as James van Riemsdyk or maybe even Matt Duchene if Colorado would be willing to retain some salary.”

There are quite a few options, but sadly rookies like Nick Schmaltz, Tyler Motte, and Ryan Hartman could be departing in order to make this happen. Personally I’m not ok with sacrificing the future of the team, but its a business and the time to win could be vanishing sooner than later.