The Chicago Blackhawks are sellers at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline. They gave some good players on expiring deals that some teams around the league contending for the Stanley Cup may want.
Seth Jones and Taylor Hall have already been traded away but there is plenty more where that came from. More moves could be made before Friday’s official deadline.
A Western Conference foe may have set the tone for the rest of this trading season with a move that they made on Wednesday.
The Seattle Kraken traded Yanni Gourde, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and a 2026 fifth-round pick (Seattle) to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a 2026 first-round pick (Tampa Bay), a 2027 first-found pick (Tampa Bay), a 2025 second-round pick (Toronto), and Mikey Eyssimont.
Both of the first-round picks are top-ten protected. The Detroit Red Wings also are a part of the trade as they are retaining on Gourde’s contract. In exchange for doing that, they are getting a 2024 fourth-round pick and Kyle Aucoin. The fourth will be the higher pick out of Tampa or Edmonton’s pick that round which both currently belong to the Lightning.
Gourde, a former Lightning, is returning to the team where he was a part of Stanley Cup-winning teams. This season with the Kraken, he had six goals and 11 assists for 17 points in 36 games played.
Bjorkstrand has 16 goals and 21 assists for 37 points in 61 games played. Both of them are good players that can provide value to a winning team but Seattle got a lot for them. Landing two first-round picks for a couple of middle-six forwards is a lot.
If this is the market for players of that caliber, the Blackhawks must take advantage. The 2026 NHL Draft appears to be a special one a year out so they might want to get as many selections in the early stages of that one as they can.
Ryan Donato, Craig Smith, and plenty of other forwards on the Blackhawks could be on their way out. Kyle Davidson should be doing everything he can to move these guys for the value that they are worth in this market.
The Kraken are already happy with what they’ve accomplished. If the Blackhawks want to do right by the rebuild, they will take advantage of the fact that they have just as good (if not better) players to trade to contenders.
Keeping a few veterans to play in the lineup might have been a good idea a week ago but the Kraken resetting the market has to make everyone think twice about not participating.
It would also help the Blackhawks out of they can open up a few roster spots for college signings in the spring. Guys like Ryan Greene and Oliver Moore could be making their NHL debuts so letting go of some other guys may help make that transition easier.
If the price isn’t right, then trying to resign one or two of these UFAs makes sense but they should be trying to imitate the Kraken before Friday.
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