Anders Sorensen - Jan. 26 Chicago Blackhawks Media Availability postgame On Tuesday night, the Chicago Blackhawks played the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second time in a week. That means that they were able to see old friend Brandon Hagel a couple of times. Since being traded to the Lightning by the Blackhawks, Hagel has become one of the league's best wingers. In parts of three seasons with Chicago, Hagel had 30 goals and 31 assists for 61 points in 82 games played. That’s pretty good production but he has become a borderline superstar in Tampa. In parts of four years down south, he has 80 goals and 117 assists for 197 points in 234 games played. This season, in particular, Hagel already has 20 goals and 31 assists for 51 points in 49 games. He should blow past his career high in goals (30) and should be a point-per-game player which would shatter his career high in points (75). Hagel is so productive to the point where he was named to Team Canada’s roster for the upcoming Four Nations Faceoff. This will be his opportunity to show off his skills to the world. Brandon Hagel is a wonderful player but having guys to play with like Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos (before this year), and Jake Guentzel (starting this year) at both even strength and on the power play is an advantage. The Blackhawks did not make a mistake when they traded Hagel away to the Lightning. Hanging onto a winger who may or may not develop into a stud when someone is offering you a haul would have been a mistake. You don’t know if he turns into the player that he is if he stays in Chicago. The Blackhawks, in return for Hagel, got two first-round picks (2023 and 2024), and two players (Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh). The 2023 first-round pick ended up turning into Oliver Moore. As for 2024, they used that first to move up two spots with the New York Islanders and they selected Sacha Boisvert. Both Moore and Boisvert and impactful players in the NCAA. Moore is coming off another Gold Medal run with Team USA at the World Junior Championships and Boisvert is an early nominee for the Hobey Baker. Not only did they get two good prospects out of the deal, but they also made their team worse by ridding themselves of Hagel. After him, they continued to strip the roster down to almost nothing. That allowed them to have some really good lottery odds in future years. Of course, Connor Bedard came thanks to those good odds in 2023. Would it be nice to have Hagel on this team right now? Sure it would. However, he got to go to a good situation and develop while the Hawks added future assets to the cupboard. By the time the Hawks are ready to win again, Hagel might not be the player that he is right now for much longer. The prospect pool for Chicago is much better for having traded Hagel for the haul that they did. 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.
