On Wednesday night, the Chicago Blackhawks made another trade with the Edmonton Oilers. After trading Connor Murphy to Edmonton for a 2028 second-round pick on Monday, Kyle Davidson reconnected with his old boss, Stan Bowman, on a deal that sent Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach away for a 2027 first-round pick and Andrew Mangiapane. This is an interesting deal to break down for both sides. For the Oilers, they free themselves of Mangiapane's bad contract while adding two players who can help them down the stretch. In the case of Dach, he could be a boost for their AHL team or be a fourth-line/extra forward heading into the postseason. He's a big physical presence who can make it hard to find space when he's on the ice. In the offensive zone, he can create good ice in front of the net, which would benefit a scoring line if he were placed there as the third guy. If he improves his skating as he develops, he may be able to carve out a full-time role in Edmonton, but he has some work to do. Jason Dickinson is the prize for the Oilers, who already have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl as a two-headed monster down the middle. If he fits in nicely as a third-line center, it is the best trio down the middle in the NHL. McDavid and Draisaitl are good enough defensively for the amount of offense they create, but adding a shutdown center like Dickinson makes them a much more well-rounded group. If he plays the role as well as he did in Chicago, they have a high-end line for every type of situation. As for the Blackhawks, they may or may not play Andrew Mangiapane regularly. They are not in a position where they absolutely have to buy him out, but they can afford to send him to the Rockford IceHogs or scratch him in favor of younger players. If he does play, he will be hoping to revive his career the way that some other depth forwards have with Chicago in the recent past. The first round pick in 2027, like Dickinson is for the Oilers, is the main prize for the Blackhawks. This draft pick is top-12 protected, just in case the Oilers have a shockingly bad year in 2026-27. If the Florida Panthers stick with their bottom 10 record and land there in the draft, the first-round pick that Chicago received from the Seth Jones trade will move to 2027, meaning the Blackhawks could have three firsts in that draft. Trade Grade: A The Blackhawks have been stockpiling first and second-round picks a lot since Kyle Davidson took over. He's already made 11 selections in the first round, and most of them are looking like they could pan out. Adding another one in exchange for a bottom-six defensive center may be his best work in terms of acquiring first-round picks. He threw in Colton Dach and took on Andrew Mangiapane to do it, but you have to give if you're going to take in the NHL. Davidson's work on this deal earns him an A-grade, because he took an expiring (and aging) asset and turned it into a high-end lottery ticket, which is the best way to describe a first-round pick outside of the top-ten. You will see better players traded for less in the coming days leading up to the deadline, which would be further proof that Davidson made a solid deal with this one. Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/36cbc167-c5ff-45c3-ac90-c0e93c945359.jpeg] Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/] team site to stay updated on the latest news [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-newshttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news], game-day [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/game-dayhttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/game-day] coverage, player features [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/playershttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/players], and more. For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
