Is there a Canucks trade to be made with Blackhawks?
The Chicago Blackhawks are getting desperate.
The Blackhawks drafted Connor Bedard first overall in 2023, which was meant to be a franchise-changing moment.
Now, in Bedard’s fourth season, the Blackhawks are competing with the Vancouver Canucks for last place in the NHL rather than for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
That’s not how this season was supposed to go for the Blackhawks, who have finished 31st in each of Bedard’s three seasons.
“Those picks appear to be in play”
General manager Kyle Davidson aimed to accelerate the Blackhawks’ rebuild with a major offseason trade that sent the fourth-overall pick and a second-round pick in 2026, plus defenceman Louis Crevier, to the Buffalo Sabres for defenceman Bowen Byram and Jordan Greenway.
Greenway has been largely invisible, while the oft-injured Byram is, well, injured. He’s played just six games for the Blackhawks this season.
You don’t trade the fourth-overall pick with the intention of tanking the following season. The Blackhawks badly want to turn things around before it’s too late.
During the Saturday Headlines segment on Sportsnet’s Saturday Night Hockey broadcast, Elliotte Friedman revealed just how desperate the Blackhawks are.
“They have Florida’s first-round pick, they have Edmonton’s first-round pick, they have a couple of second-rounders, in addition to their own first,” said Friedman. “Those picks appear to be in play.”
The Blackhawks are making first-round picks available? The Canucks better be paying attention, because they should absolutely be looking to take advantage.
There’s a double upside to the Canucks making a trade with the Blackhawks. They could get more draft picks to aid their rebuilding efforts, and they could also improve the Blackhawks and remove them as a tanking challenger for last place.
Who could the Canucks offer the Blackhawks?
With the Blackhawks reportedly looking for scoring help, the name that immediately jumps out for the Canucks is Jake DeBrusk.
The 30-year-old winger is good for 20+ goals every season and is on pace for 24 goals and 48 points this season. He could be a good fit alongside Bedard.
The complication is that DeBrusk has a full no-movement clause and, while he’s reportedly open to a trade, it seems doubtful he’d want to go from one basement-dwelling team to another.
The Canucks have a handful of other, cheaper forwards who could be moved, like Drew O’Connor, Linus Karlsson, and Paul Cotter. Karlsson, in particular, could generate some interest, as he’s still relatively young at 26, and has been able to generate offence from a middle-six deployment on the struggling Canucks.
One has to wonder, however, if any of those forwards would bring back significant assets like the first-round picks the Blackhawks reportedly have on the trading block. Perhaps the Canucks could instead take aim at prospects who have yet to break out with one of those forwards.
Another possibility is Marco Rossi.
The 25-year-old centre was one of the pieces that came back in the Quinn Hughes trade and played well to close out last season. This year, however, he hasn’t really found his footing with new head coach Manny Malhotra, with his ice time fluctuating alongside disappointing production.
Still, Rossi has a track record in the NHL, including a 60-point season with the Minnesota Wild, and has pedigree as a former top-ten draft pick.
Would the Canucks be willing to move Rossi and, if so, would the Blackhawks be willing to part with top-tier assets to acquire him?
With a $5-million cap hit, Rossi would present a challenge to fit under the cap, but the Canucks could take back another veteran with a significant cap hit like Greenway or Teuvo Teravainen to make it work, while asking the Blackhawks to sweeten the deal with another draft pick or prospect.