Trade boards are great ways to see players who are being talked about in potential deals or have been in rumors, likely to be traded eventually. This includes players on bad teams who will be selling or others who need a change of scenery.
While the Chicago Blackhawks have players they should be looking to trade, that doesn't mean they can't also add, looking to the future to bolster the team in a way that helps get them into the playoffs and contending sooner rather than later.
The 22 players on Nick Kypreos' trade board include:
Alex Tuch, Rasmus Andersson, Blake Coleman, Nazem Kadri, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Boone Jenner, Jason Robertson, Andrew Mangiapane, Jonathan Marchessault, Ryan O'Reilly, Steven Stamkos, Dougie Hamilton, Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Binnington, Jordan Kyrou, Brayden Schenn, Anthony Stolarz, Jake DeBrusk, Elias Pettersson, and Kiefer Sherwood.
Not all of these players are going to be moved at the deadline or even in the summer, but over half should at least be on a new team soon. The Blackhawks have certain needs that need to be addressed. Whether they make the playoffs or not this season, there is plenty of cap space to pull off pretty much anything if they so desire and build a team that can sustain success.
Spencer Knight is the starting goalie, so we can remove any goalie trade targets from the Blackhawks' sights. They don't need any more filler/secondary players either, especially not ones who have contracts ending this year. And the Blackhawks don't need a top-2 center, even if they are more established. They aren't going to rush becoming a powerhouse and will let Connor Bedard, who is already an elite talent, and Frank Nazar get there. The team also has Anton Frondell coming.
That leaves elite talent or top-6 established wingers who can produce as targets. So that means the list of trade targets Chicago should at least take a look at include Tuch, Robertson, Panarin (with an extension), Kyrou, and DeBrusk. The trio on the Nashville Predators are questionable, whether anyone but Marchessault even really wants to leave.
To be clear, the Blackhawks would, at best, land one of these players mentioned above. They could sit back and not do much like last offseason, or even go off the board and pull off an unexpected trade. What is clear is that the top-6 needs another high-end player that can produce.
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