Dealing franchise icon Patrick Kane was ‘heavy’ for GM Kyle Davidson. Wrapping up the Chicago Blackhawks’ trade-deadline moves.
For Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson, Friday’s NHL trade deadline was rather anticlimactic.
The Hawks acquired Los Angeles Kings prospect Austin Wagner for future considerations, though the forward will join the Hawks in Chicago instead of being assigned to Rockford.
“We got one in under the buzzer there,” Davidson said of his only move Friday.
The week leading up to the deadline? That’s a different story.
“It truly was a whirlwind,” Davidson said. “Even going back to the start of this last road trip feels like three weeks ago even though it was just a couple days. So it’s been really busy, really hectic, lots of different things flying around, lots of scenarios.
“But in the end, as I look back on it now, we didn’t have the busiest day today so had some time to reflect. Just really really happy with what we were able to accomplish.”
The Hawks made nine trades — some blockbusters such as Patrick Kane and Max Domi and some farm-system moves since the Feb. 22 deal for Nikita Zaitsev.
They shipped out eight players and two picks and brought in 11 players and seven picks to help fuel the rebuild. Five of those former Hawks were everyday players on the roster: Kane, Domi, Sam Lafferty, Jack Johnson and Jake McCabe.
Kane’s trade to the Rangers was a tough one to stomach.
“We knew until maybe a day or two before it happened, that you know what, OK, we are going down this road,” Davidson said. “You always knew it was potential, but once it did happen, you kind of snap into gear and try and get a deal done first. …
“When that was done, and then once I talked to Patrick, it was heavy. You’re sitting in the eye of the hurricane, but you know what’s going on is some serious stuff and you feel it for sure.”
The acquisitions were highlighted by four second-round picks — one of which can become a first-rounder under the right conditions — a 2025 conditional first-round pick and several additions who have been divided between Chicago and Rockford.
Here’s a summary of the Hawks’ acquisitions.
Friday: Austin Wagner (from Los Angeles Kings) for future considerations
Thursday: 2025 second-round pick and Anton Khudobin (Dallas Stars for Max Domi, Dylan Wells and Khudobin’s cap; Maxim Golod (Anaheim Ducks) for Dylan Sikura; Anders Bjork (Buffalo Sabres) for future considerations
Tuesday: 2023 second-round pick (Rangers; upgrades if they reach the Eastern Conference finals), 2025 fourth-round pick (Rangers), Andy Welinski (Rangers) and Vili Saarijärvi (Arizona Coyotes) for Patrick Kane (to Rangers), Cooper Zech (to Rangers) and 2025 conditional third-round pick (from Rangers to Coyotes)
Monday: 2025 conditional first-round pick, 2026 second-round pick, Joey Anderson and Pavel Gogolev (Toronto Maple Leafs) for Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty, 2024 conditional fifth-round pick and 2025 conditional fifth-round pick
Sunday: Andreas Englund (Colorado Avalanche) for Jack Johnson
Feb. 23: Hunter Drew (Anaheim Ducks) for Josiah Slavin
Feb. 22: 2023 second-round pick, 2026 fourth-round pick and Nikita Zaitsev (Ottawa Senators) for future considers and Zaitsev’s cap
“It’s not easy, it’s not fun trading people,” Davidson said. “(But) once you have the assets, and you’re looking at that draft acquisition or bringing talent in, that’s fun. … You look back and have the assets you do, you know it’s what needs to be done.”
Several of picks stocked next year’s draft and beyond, but that was according to plan.
“It was important because we want to spread out our draft capital,” Davidson said. “We want the talent to come in waves. We don’t just want one hit in one draft or two drafts. …
“And then additionally, those draft picks in ‘25, ‘26, they’re only going to get more valuable as we move forward, and it gives us options.”
Here’s a recap of all the moves the Blackhawks made the last few weeks.
Feb. 22: Blackhawks add another 2nd-round draft pick while trading for defenseman Nikita Zaitsev
The Blackhawks acquired a 2023 second-round pick in exchange for taking on the $4.5 million salary-cap hit of the Ottawa Senators defenseman in a trade announced Wednesday. The Hawks also will receive a 2026 fourth-round pick and will give the Senators future considerations.
Zaitsev’s contract runs through next season, and shedding him frees up space for the Senators to potentially extend the contract of former Hawks winger Alex DeBrincat, an upcoming restricted free agent.
The 6-foot-2, 192-pound Zaitsev has played only 28 games this season because of a lower-body injury and has no goals, five assists and a minus-5 rating. Read more here.
Feb. 23: Blackhawks acquire Hunter Drew for Josiah Slavin
The Hawks on Thursday traded 2018 seventh-round pick Josiah Slavin to the Anaheim Ducks for fellow forward Hunter Drew. Drew, 24, will report to the Rockford IceHogs.
The 6-foot-2, 213-pound forward had five goals and six assists in 44 games with the AHL San Diego Gulls this season.
The Ducks drafted Drew in the sixth round in 2018, 15 picks ahead of Slavin — but as a defenseman. Drew spent some time at forward for the Gulls in 2020-21, but that summer the team asked him to convert.
“It was kind of like, ‘We have a lot of defensemen, not a lot of room,’ and obviously I played (forward) for half the year last year,” Drew told the team website in February 2022.
Said then-coach Joel Bouchard: “At one point, he realized his attributes help him to have a progression into pro hockey as a forward. You can see his attributes — his shot, puck skill, he can see players behind the first line of defense where he can execute.”
Drew and Slavin are both 24 andhave a right-handed shot, and Drew is an inch shorter at 6-foot-2, but he brings more a bit more heft at 213 pounds compared with Slavin’s 190.
Drew made his debut for the Ducks on April 26, 2022, on the road against the San Jose Sharks, one of only two NHL games. But he spent the bulk of last season in San Diego and registered career highs in goals (17) and assists (21) in 64 games.
Slavin last season played 15 games for the Blackhawks and had one assist. He had 18 goals and 14 assists in 49 games for the IceHogs last season and three goals and assists in 51 games this season.
Feb. 24: Prelude to a Patrick Kane trade?
Patrick Kane missed Friday’s practice at Sharks Ice for maintenance, according to a team release. Defenseman Jake McCabe also was held out with a non-COVID-related illness.
It’s typical for teams to bench players who are about to be traded to avoid the risk of injury. The Hawks made no further statement.
Kane recently expressed he had been intrigued by the possibility of playing for the New York Rangers — and by all accounts the feeling was mutual — but the Rangers’ trade for former St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko called that into question.
Now there’s renewed buzz from New York media that a trade for Kane might be imminent. The Rangers made roster moves that appear to be designed to help clear cap space.
Trading stories: Blackhawks have seen the emotional gamut with trades — from excitement to heartache
Feb. 25: Patrick Kane and Sam Lafferty both scratched
The Blackhawks will scratch the forwards, both the subject of trade rumors, from Saturday’s game against the Sharks in San Jose, Calif., for “roster management.”
TSN columnist Pierre LeBrun tweeted a statement from Kane’s agent Patt Brisson: “Based on the current status of Patrick’s situation, we collectively felt it was more appropriate to have him not play during this period of reflection.”
Hawks coach Luke Richardson confirmed Kane flew back to Chicago.
“Yeah, he has left this morning,” Richardson told reporters. “He was with the team yesterday but as a of today he has flown back to Chicago until the situation rectifies itself either way.”
Richardson said Lafferty was still in San Jose.
Kane and Lafferty have been rumored to be trade candidates in recent weeks, while Kane has expressed an interest in the New York Rangers. The Rangers scratched Vitali Kravtsov and Jake Leschyshyn for a second consecutive game Saturday for roster management, a move teams can use to prevent the risk of injury or clear cap space.
Leschyshyn ($766,667 cap hit) later was placed on waivers, according to reports.
The Rangers traded Kravstov to the Vancouver Canucks for prospect William Lockwood and a 2026 seventh-round pick while also clearing $875,000 in cap space.
According to New York media reports, the Rangers likely will need a third team to act as a “banker” to retain some of Kane’s cap hit. He’s in the final season of his eight-year, $84 million contract ($10.5 million annual cap hit).
The Hawks are limited by cap rules to retain no more than 50% of Kane’s salary. The Rangers had been tight against the upper limit. Just $908,667 would have been available — and that’s if they waited until Friday’s trade deadline, according to CapFriendly.com.
But trading Kravstov brought the Rangers’ cap space to $1.67 million. And sending Leschyshyn to the minors or waiting for him to be claimed off waivers will raise that number to about $2.4 million, close to the $2.65 million (25%) they’ll need, pending another move and assuming a third team helps broker the deal.
If the teams can make a deal work, Kane would leave as one of the greatest and most decorated Hawks of all time. His 1,225 points, 1,161 games and 67 game-winning goals rank second, third and fourth in franchise history, respectively.
The No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft is regarded as one of the greatest American hockey players: three Stanley Cups (2010, ‘13 and ‘15), Olympic appearances in 2010 (silver) and 2014, 2007-08 Calder Trophy winner (top rookie), first U.S.-born player to win the Hart Trophy as the regular-season MVP in 2015-16, Art Ross winner (points leader) in the same season, 2012-13 Conn Smythe recipient as playoff MVP and nine All-Star games.
While the Rangers try to make the math work, the Hawks will assess the human impact
“We’ve msssed him a few games this year, but he’s such a focal point of the team, seeing him on the video this morning it’s a different feeling him not being here,” Richardson said of Kane.
Lafferty, 27, has been a surprise addition to the trade-rumor mill with seven goals and five assists in 22 games since Jan. 1. He’s a strong depth forward and penalty killer and has matched his career high at the faceoff dot at 52.4%.
“It’s hard to wrap your head around (the trade buzz), it’s just so out of (your) control,” Lafferty recently told the Tribune. “Everyone here has trusted me and put me in a lot of situations. So that builds your confidence.”
Feb. 26: Jack Johnson dealt back to Avalanche
The defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche reacquired veteran defenseman Jack Johnson in a trade with the Hawks in exchange for defenseman Andreas Englund.
Englund, 27, has six assists in 69 career NHL games with the Avs and Ottawa Senators, including three assists and a team-high 104 hits in 36 games this season in Colorado. The Swedish native was a second-round pick by the Senators in 2014.
Johnson, 36, had four assists, 96 blocked shots and 75 hits in 58 games for the Hawks after signing a one-year contract in August with a $950,000 salary-cap hit.
Feb. 27: Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty traded to Maple Leafs
The Hawks and New York Rangers are in a “holding pattern” before they can complete a trade for Patrick Kane, general manager Kyle Davidson said.
“No update there, just in a holding pattern for now until things hopefully get to a conclusion,” Davidson said. “But we’ll see where that goes.”
It became all but a foregone conclusion after Kane left the team Saturday during its road trip and flew back to Chicago. The Rangers need to accumulate enough salary-cap space by the deadline to fit Kane on the roster, and Kane needs to waive his no-movement clause, if he hasn’t already. Davidson declined to confirm that step.
“I’d prefer not to comment on that right now,” he said. “It’s a difficult decision for Patrick, and right now we’re in a holding pattern. We’ll wait till there’s something formal to announce if we get there.”
Davidson shed light on some other recent trades:
Sam Lafferty and Jake McCabe to the Toronto Maple Leafs for picks and prospects: The Hawks traded the forward and defenseman Monday for a package that includes forward prospects Joey Anderson and Pavel Gogolev and a swap of picks.
The Hawks also received a 2025 conditional first-round pick and a 2026 second-rounder while sending the Leafs conditional fifth-round picks in 2024 and 2025.
The Hawks will retain 50% of McCabe’s salary — a $2 million annual cap hit. The Leafs’ 2025 first-rounder is top-10 protected. Read the full story here.
Jack Johnson to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Andreas Englund: The Hawks did Johnson a solid by sending him back to the team with which he won a Stanley Cup last season.
“It was an opportunity to bring Andreas in and give him an opportunity in our system and see how he does and how he looks,” Davidson said. “On the flip side, sending Jack to Colorado is a great opportunity for him to go on another run with a team he’s really familiar with and a situation that he would really enjoy. Jack was a great professional for us.”
Future considerations to the Ottawa Senators for defenseman Nikita Zaitsev and a 2023 second-round pick: The pick is really a reward for the Hawks for helping the Senators save $4.5 million against the cap. The Hawks went into the season knowing a roster light on star talent — and star contracts — could come in handy when cap-strapped teams came calling.
“It was nice to be able to use an asset we had in our cap space to acquire — especially a second-round pick. It’s a really high-valued pick this year,” Davidson said. “So it’s something that we were happy to do and able to leverage the strength of the position we had.”
Davidson said Zaitsev’s arrival could be delayed a couple of days because of a “complicated visa process.” Read more here.
Feb. 28: ‘Showtime’ heads to Broadway
The long-awaited Patrick Kane trade became official as the Blackhawks sent their No. 2 all-time scorer to the New York Rangers in a three-team trade that also involved the Arizona Coyotes.
“This has been an emotional time for me and my family, but I feel this decision puts me in the best spot to immediately win another Stanley Cup,” Kane said in a statement through the Hawks. “This isn’t about me leaving the Blackhawks, but this is an opportunity for me — the Blackhawks did everything they could to put me in a great position and I will forever be grateful.
“It is bittersweet to leave a place that is so special to me, but I will always carry the memories we made in Chicago. I will miss the roar of the United Center, the deafening sound of the anthem and the people of Chicago. Together, we made memories that will last a lifetime.”
Kane will close the books on nearly 16 seasons and three Stanley Cups with the Blackhawks and chase another title with the Rangers.
March 2: Hawks trade for Anders Bjork and trade Dylan Sikura
The Blackhawks acquired forward Anders Bjork from the Buffalo Sabres for future considerations.
He’s expected to arrive in Chicago on Friday. After a series of trades the Hawks could use another body or have Bjork, 26, bolster the Rockford IceHogs’ roster for the AHL playoffs.
He’ll be a restricted free agent after the season.
The 6-foot, 196-pound Bjork has 212 games of NHL experience over six seasons but played just one game for the Sabres on Nov. 16 in Ottawa. He had eight goals and 17 assists in 41 games for the AHL Rochester Americans.
Last season in Buffalo, N.Y., Bjork put up five goals and three assists in 58 games for the Sabres.
In 2020, he posted an assist in 10 playoff games with the Boston Bruins, his only NHL playoff experience. The Bruins selected him in the fifth round (No. 146th) in 2014.
Bjork won a gold medal with the U.S. team at the 2014 IIHF World Under-18 Championship. He capped off three seasons at Notre Dame as a Hobey Baker Award finalist in 2017.
Dylan Sikura traded to the Anaheim Ducks: Sikura’s up-and-down relationship with the Hawks is at an end. The Hawks traded their 2014 sixth-round pick to Ducks for fellow forward Maxim Golod.
The 6-foot, 185-pound Golod, 22, will report to the ECHL Indy Fuel. He led the ECHL Tulsa Oilers with 31 assists and added 12 goals.
Sikura played for the Hawks from 2017-18 and 2019-20, then bounced between Vegas and Colorado.
This season in Rockford, Sikura was an alternate captain for the IceHogs, recording 14 goals and 18 assists in 52 games.
March 2: Hawks send Maxi Domi to Stars
The Hawks received a second-round pick in 2025 and journeyman goaltender Anton Khudobin. The Stars also received goalie prospect Dylan Wells. Khudobin will report to Rockford.
Max Domi, who turned 28 on Thursday, had 18 goals and 31 assists in 60 games with the Hawks this season, including three goals and two assists in two games against the Stars. Read more here.
March 3: One last trade before deadline
The Hawks acquired Austin Wagner from the Los Angeles Kings for future considerations before the NHL trade deadline Friday.
Wagner posted nine goals and three assists in 24 games for the Ontario Reign this season, his fourth with the AHL team. In 109 games over two seasons with the Kings, the 6-foot-1, 194-pound forward put up a total of 10 goals and nine assists.
The left-handed shooter spent all of the 2021-22 season with the Reign, he had 13 goals and nine assists in 55 games.
