The folks at The Fourth Period do a great job with their summer trade watch list, including which teams have been linked to specific players. They updated their roster on Monday and the Blackhawks are linked to four intriguing players on their roster: Toronto Mitch MarnerCarolina Martin NečasAnaheim Trevor Zegras and the islanders Oliver Wahlstrom.
I previously wrote about a possible Blackhawks fit for three of those four names. And the fourth is certainly intriguing.
Blackhawks and Mitch Marner
I’ve already written about the Marner rumors several times. There are some fatal flaws for both sides, which has spilled a lot of water on the Marner-Seth Jones We’re talking early summer, but the Blackhawks still need to spend around $10 million (coincidentally Marner’s cap hit) to get on the court for the 2024-25 season, which keeps Chicago in the mix here. There are other insiders who think Marner will still be in Toronto to start the season.
With only one year left on his contract right now, the return Toronto would get could disappoint its fans… even if many of them irrationally want to run Marner out of town. If the Blackhawks were to go big on Marner, one would expect them to quickly get to work on an extension. I like the player, but not as a very expensive rental for a season.
Blackhawks and Martin Nečas
Nečas might be the second favorite hockey player out of Chicago on this site after Ivan Demidov or Artyom Levshunov (depending on which one you prefer at No. 2 in the Draft). And he should: He’s only 25 years old, he’s been a productive player on a team with championship aspirations in recent years and has performed well in the postseason. The problem: He’s a restricted free agent this summer who wants the purse, and Carolina might not be able to pay him (and Seth Jarvis and all their other internal UFAs and RFAs).
Here’s the second problem in this hypothesis: Carolina is also now reportedly purchasing the rights to future UFA Jake Guentzel. It looks like he’s at least going to test the market, if not leave. And the Blackhawks have been linked to him, too. If Guentzel leaves, the Canes may need to retain Nečas and make a stronger effort to retain him. This will be a wild summer to watch in Carolina.
Blackhawks and Oliver Wahlstrom
In early May, when I identified some buy-low trade targets, Wahlstrom was one of the names I highlighted. I came back to it a few weeks later when we discussed some teams that might need to give up their RFAs due to salary cap issues; The Islanders are reportedly looking to get money off their books (which may have been a factor in their trade with the Blackhawks).
Wahlstrom seems to me like the island version of Lukas Reichel. He was the 11th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and showed some signs of becoming a man early in his career, but the last two seasons have been marred by injuries. After scoring just six points in 32 games last season, the 24-year-old winger is asking for a new contract that the Isles may not see as a priority, or see him as an asset that could help them land someone who can help them. more/better immediately.
I’m still interested in a possible Blackhawks that fits here, and the cost should be significantly less than any of the other three names mentioned by TFP.
Blackhawks and Trevor Zegras
Zegras is an intriguing name to tie to the Blackhawks. The ninth overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, it’s a highlight waiting to happen; that same night he scored a goal at Michigan Connor Bedard He did it last season. If you placed him in the same forward group as Bedard and franco nazar…that’s so sexy, y’all.
But….
His 2023-24 season got off to a slow, late start due to lengthy contract negotiations with the Ducks that landed him a three-year deal for “just” $5.75 million AAV. After back-to-back 23-goal seasons to start his NHL career, many felt it was an underpayment. Zegras then had to deal with injuries all year and contributed just 15 points in 31 games for the third-worst team in the NHL.
I imagine the asking price here would be more in line with the cost of getting Nečas out of Carolina. And unlike the other three names above, Zegras has a contract with more than one season left. At only 6-0 and 185, he’s not much of a forward either.
Zegras can score. And he knows how to skate. And the remaining two years of his contract fit perfectly with the Blackhawks’ roster-building schedule. If he gets a next contract in the next 24 months, that would be fantastic. And he’s young enough to be an interesting player here. My personal preference would be a bigger forward who plays a little defensively from time to time. But Zegras would be fun.
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