By Mark Lazerus, Scott Powers and Chris Johnston
The last time the Blackhawks convinced a Vancouver Canucks second-round pick to take a supposedly bad contract, they landed Jason Dickinson, who quickly emerged as one of their best players and just had a Trophy-caliber second season Selke in Chicago. .
Kyle Davidson is apparently hoping for a similar coup with Ilya Mikheyev.
The Canucks are sending Mikheyev, the rights to pending unrestricted free agent Sam Lafferty and a 2025 second-round pick to Chicago for a 2027 fourth-round pick, according to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. The Athletic’s Chris Johnston reported that Mikheyev waived his no-trade clause to complete the deal. It’s a capital drop for Vancouver, pure and simple. For Chicago, it’s a challenge for a player with two years left and a $4.75 million cap hit that could ever fly.
Mikheyev, 29, is an intriguing turnaround project for the Blackhawks, who have cap space and patience to spend. Mikheyev, once one of the league’s fastest skaters and a top producer (21 goals in 53 games during the 2021-22 season and 13 goals in 46 games in 2022-23) with solid defensive metrics, has not been the same from ACL. The surgery shortened his season in 2023. He played 78 games this season, his first since the surgery, but he only scored 11 goals and 20 assists. Ten of those 11 goals came in his first 28 games of the season, as his offense petered out over the final 50 games. He did not score a point in 11 playoff games.
According to the NHL’s Edge tracking system, Mikheyev was still a strong skater, in the 69th percentile in top speed and in the 70th percentile in speed bursts over 20 mph. But back in 2021-22, he was in the 95th percentile in both categories.
“To me, guys that come out of that surgery don’t get back to their game until the second year after surgery,” one Eastern Conference scout said. “I’d take a chance if I got it on a lower value deal.”
The Blackhawks were the lowest scoring team in the league last season with 2.17 goals per game, and general manager Kyle Davidson promised his team would be more competitive this season. Chicago has significant interest in high-end players like Jake Guentzel and Martin Necas, but those are somewhat long shots. Mikheyev isn’t on his level, and the Blackhawks envision him more in a third-line/penalty-killing role. But he could provide some scoring depth, something Chicago desperately needs.
As for Lafferty, he carved out a strong role in his two seasons in Chicago as a bottom-six player before being traded to Toronto at the 2023 deadline. The Blackhawks now have exclusive negotiating rights with Lafferty until he starts free agency on Monday. They hope to sign him and, together with Mikheyev, significantly improve their bottom six positions.
(Photo by Ilya Mikheyev: Bob Frid/USA Today)
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