CHICAGO (AP) — When it comes to the Chicago Blackhawks and the NHL trade deadline, it’s more about goodbye than hello.
Again.
Moving toward the end of another losing season, Chicago is selling ahead of Friday’s 3 p.m. EST deadline. Defenseman Connor Murphy was traded to Edmonton on Monday, and forwards Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach were shipped to the Oilers on Wednesday.
“It’s disappointing that you can’t continue to hang together and keep growing together,” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said. “They were all real committed to the growth of this group. With that said, certainly happy for them to get the opportunity, especially in Murph and Dicky’s case, just because of the age they’re at, you don’t know how many opportunities you get for this.”
Chicago has made just one postseason appearance since 2017, and that was the expanded playoff format after the 2020 season was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It finished last in the Central Division each of the previous three seasons.
Selling has become the norm for the Blackhawks this time of year.
“We all kind of knew that this was part of the plan going forward,” defenseman Alex Vlasic said. “If anything, like I kind of said earlier, it is a little bit more sad just to kind of lose some of your buddies potentially.
“We talked about it as a team. We want to become a team where we’re not losing anybody, we’re keeping the guys that we have in here.”
Captain Nick Foligno and speedy forward Ilya Mikheyev, a terrific penalty killer, also could be on the move before Friday’s deadline. The 38-year-old Foligno is in his third season with Chicago, and the 31-year-old Mikheyev is in his second year with the team.
Foligno has had some conversations about his future with general manager Kyle Davidson.
“As of right now, I’m a Chicago Blackhawk, so I’m fully invested in what we’re doing,” Foligno said after practice on Thursday. “But have obviously had that honest conversation and we’ll see where it goes.”
Chicago received a 2028 second-round pick in the Murphy deal, and it obtained veteran forward Andrew Mangiapane and a conditional first-round selection in the 2027 draft in Wednesday’s trade. The first-round choice is top-12 protected.
Following the two deals, the Blackhawks have a total of nine picks in the first two rounds over the next two years. They drafted 11 players in the first round alone over the previous four years.
Chicago’s development pipeline continues to hold the keys when it comes to the team returning to contention at some point. But the Blackhawks (23-28-10) still have 21 games left this season, beginning with Friday night’s matchup with Vancouver.
Mangiapane, who turns 30 on April 4, had seven goals and seven assists in 52 games this season for Edmonton after agreeing to a $7.2 million, two-year deal with the Oilers. He was in the minors at the time of the trade.
“He gets an opportunity to have a clean slate here,” Blashill said. “He’s been a good player in this league. He’ll get an opportunity to be a good player here.”
While it’s unclear if Mangiapane will be available against the Canucks, defenseman Wyatt Kaiser is expected to return after being sidelined by a lower-body injury. Defenseman Kevin Korchinski was assigned to Rockford of the AHL on Thursday.
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