The Chicago Blackhawks are likely to be sellers at the 2026 NHL trade deadline. It is understandable, as they currently do not hold a playoff spot and are still in the middle of their rebuild. Because of this, multiple of their players have come up in the rumor mill as trade candidates. A few pending unrestricted free agents (UFAs) who should be watched leading up to the deadline include Jason Dickinson, Ilya Mikheyev, Matt Grzelcyk, and Nick Foligno. Yet, the Blackhawks' most valuable pending UFA trade chip is defenseman Connor Murphy. Contenders are always on the hunt for big right-shot defenseman, and Murphy should be a popular trade target because of it. This is especially so when noting that there are not too many notable right-shot defenseman trade candidates at this point in the season. This could help improve Murphy's trade value. Contenders looking for a right-shot shutdown defenseman with experience will likely have Murphy as one of their top targets. With this, the Blackhawks do have the potential to get a decent return for him. It is going to be interesting to see what ends up happening with Murphy leading up to the deadline. With the Blackhawks having so many promising young blueliners in their system, it would be understandable if they traded Murphy for a draft pick or decent prospect.
