The Chicago Blackhawks have a handful of players that they could trade before Friday's deadline.
The Chicago Blackhawks have a handful of hours to go until the NHL Trade Deadline kicks at 2:00 PM CT. After that, they will have to wait until the postseason to make any moves ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft.
Chicago already traded Jason Dickinson, Colton Dach, and Connor Murphy. All three of them ended up with the Edmonton Oilers in two separate trades.
In exchange, the Blackhawks received a collective payment of a conditional first-round pick in 2027, a second-round pick in 2028, and forward Andrew Mangiapane.
The Blackhawks retained 50 percent of the cap hit on both Dickinson and Murphy, meaning that they have used up all three of their allowed retention slots (Seth Jones).
Could the Blackhawks make more moves? Well, there are certainly more moves that could be made. The two biggest targets left on their roster are captain Nick Foligno and Ilya Mikheyev.
Both of them are bottom-six forwards who can kill penalties, play a strong game in their own end, and provide veteran presence in a locker room.
Foligno, being a captain in two NHL markets throughout his career, is more of a leader, but Mikheyev will provide a tick more offense and an all-around better game at this stage of their careers.
Is either one of these guys going to be a needle-mover for a contender? No. However, you need depth pieces to win in the playoffs, and each of them has strengths that could be helpful down the stretch once the games get harder and more physical.
Both Mikheyev and Foligno are unrestricted free agents at season's end. In theory, they are both rentals.
Matt Grzelcyk is also a UFA at the end of the year, but a team would have to be willing to part with an asset for a bottom-pair offensive defenseman that could contribute on the power play if needed. He may move, but at a lower percentage than Mikheyev or Foligno.
Colton Dach is not a pending unrestricted free agent, so Kyle Davidson has shown that he is willing to move a young player who may not necessarily be a part of the future core. Kevin Korchinski and Landon Slaggert come to mind as potential sweeteners in a deal, as Dach was.
Davidson loves adding first and second-round picks. How far will he take it before 2 PM CT on Friday? We will soon find out.
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