What’s next for Blackhawks after quiet 2024 NHL trade deadline? originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Presented by Nationwide Insurance Agent Jeff Vukovich
WASHINGTON — The NHL trade deadline came and went on Friday, and the Chicago Blackhawks made only one move: Anthony Beauvillier was dealt to Nashville for a fifth-round pick in 2024.
The Blackhawks were probably hoping to stockpile more future assets but the re-signings of Jason Dickinson, Nick Foligno and Petr Mrazek made that a little tougher to do. They were also expected to trade Corey Perry at the deadline but his contract was terminated in November.
The options on who the Blackhawks could have traded became pretty limited.
“I just thought there would be a little more action on our end, but it was quieter, which is fine,” Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson said. “We’re happy with the group we have moving through the deadline. I wasn’t like dead-set on trying to make other moves. If it happened, it happened, and it didn’t.”
With the deadline in the rearview mirror, Davidson is now shifting his attention to the 2024 NHL Draft. College and junior playoffs are right around the corner, and that’s a crucial evaluation period for scouts and executives.
“That’s definitely going to take up a lot of the focus now,” Davidson said. “That, along with tracking some of the prospects down the stretch and see how they’re doing, where we might want to have them play, whether it’s to end this year or to play next year. Those kind of conversations are going to really heat up and start to be had. Between draft prep and then those prospect conversations, that’s definitely going to be a shift in focus.”
Beyond that, it seems like fans are wondering what free agency could look like this summer. Of the 20 players on their active roster as of this writing, only nine of them are under contract for next year.
The depth of the Blackhawks’ roster could look different next season, but don’t expect them to start handing out longer-term deals. They’re not at that point yet in their trajectory.
“You have to get to that point to see who’s available, first of all,” Davidson said. “The thing about a lot of these, whether it’s free agency or what have you, if you’re looking long term at some pretty good players, normally their teams do everything they can to lock them up and there’s still a considerable amount of time to do that. I don’t know if we’ll be in the long-term game. We’ll kind of evaluate that when we get…