Trade Deadline Preview

With the NHL trade deadline about a week away, I thought it would be interesting to see what the Hawks might be able to do.

Don't get too excited. There isn't a whole lot the Hawks have that would attract any interest beyond their deep cap space. Kyle Davidson has also stated that he anticipates this year's deadline to be relatively quiet.

So, what do the Hawks have and what can they gain?

Cap Space

The biggest thing Davidson has going for him is cap space. The Hawk's current cap space, as of Feb. 27, is $34,051,215 with $42,158,647 expected by the deadline. That's the most room of any team, as of right now.

That's a lot of room to play with.

Davidson shipped off the big names last season to close off his destruction of the Hawks roster.

This year, he'll be happy to take on some big contracts to remain compliant above the cap floor. That's a good problem to have.

This is why we saw huge overpays for Petr Mrazek, Jason Dickinson, and Nick Foligno. Their cap hit next season will combine for $13mil.

The big contract the Hawks have is Seth Jones with a $9.5mil cap hit until the summer of 2030. His massive overpay helps with the cap floor and won't be the problem it was as the salary cap increases.

There's plenty of cap room to play with and the chance to take on bad contracts.

As far as selling any players, however, the story is a bit more bleak.

Draft Picks

Beyond Cap Space, Kyle Davidson also has a plethora of draft picks in his arsenal.

At this stage in the rebuild, using those picks instead of trading them away is the smarter strategy. The Hawks are looking to rebuild through the draft, don't expect those picks to get traded until the Hawks are shopping for pending free agents.

Those deep draft picks won't become trading ammunition unless the rebuild gets sped up significantly. Even with Connor Bedard, the rebuild is still planned to be long. The Hawks are very early in the rebuild still and they want as many picks as they can get.

This year's draft and next year's the Hawks have a total of 4 1st round draft picks. There are a 8 2nd round draft picks in the next three years and those are picks that Davidson wants. The more picks you have, the greater your chances are on hitting an NHL player.

The Trading Block

Who do the Hawks have that makes sense for a trade?

Jason Dickinson, Nick Foligno, and Petr Mrazek are all players who would have attracted some interest at the deadline. However, Davidson has resigned all of them.

That’s not to say a trade would be impossible. It’s just extremely unlikely those players get moved. Davidson has expressed his interest in each player's role in the coming future. (Also… cap floor).

Taylor Raddysh would have been an interesting trade piece had he produced as much as he did last year. In his 3rd season, he scored 20 goals last year. This year? He is at 5 goals in 54 games, he is currently projected to score 7 this season.

The two most likely candidates are Tyler Johnson and Colin Blackwell. And by “most likely” I mean makes the most sense. Don’t be surprised if KD doesn’t make a move.

Tyler Johnson - $5mil - Pending UFA
Games Played - 44/Goals - 12/Assists - 6/Points - 18

Johnson makes the most sense for a trade. However, his value won't be worth much. He might bring in something like a 5th round draft pick. What can you ask for out of a player that's been injured and is a third liner at best for teams in the playoff picture?

Johnson was traded from Tampa Bay in the summer of 2021. Tampa took on Brent Seabrook's contract and placed him on LTIR. The Hawks also received a 2023 2nd Rnd pick, which was traded to the Flyers during the 2023 draft.

What Johnson brings to teams is his experience in winning 2 Stanley Cups. His $5mil cap hit can easily be consumed by the Hawks' cap space by eating half of that.

That makes Johnson an experienced player who can add to a playoff aspiring team’s bottom 6. I don't think his price tag is cheap, which is a problem for cap-strapped teams.

Colin Blackwell - $1.2mil - Pending UFA
Games Played - 29/Goals - 5/Assists - 3/Points - 8

The other candidate is Colin Blackwell, and that’s scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Blackwell has had a good season after coming back from his hernia recovery.

He doesn't fit on a young team being 30 years old and he's not exactly what one thinks of when you need "veteran presence."

His skill set makes him an interesting 4th line option and he's cheap at . What he gets in return might be a 5th rounder at best, however.

He was signed by Davidson in July 2022 on a 2-year deal.

Who Would Make a Hawk?

Teams who are cap-strapped and in need of some bottom-6 players might be looking at the Hawks.

For Davidson, he's most likely looking at players similar to Nick Foligno. Out of the handful of pending UFA's. There's Tyler Toffoli, Jordan Eberle and Tyler Bertuzzi to name a few.

Do the Hawks need someone of those players' caliber? Sure, they're nice names. But what do they provide that Dickinson and Foligno don't?

Not that the Hawks are in any way shape or form being competitive for at least another couple of years, they need someone who can play with Bedard.

So we're searching for a top-6 player, whose price won't be an issue and someone who will settle for an awful Hawks team. We already have that in Taylor Hall and Andreas Athanasiou, and that's stretching it for AA.

Can we guarantee that both players will be healthy enough to play with Bedard? Athanasiou fits better on the second line for this team. Taylor Hall makes sense as a pass-first winger. Finding another winger who can play with Bedard is what Davidson should be going after. (I'm not ready to fantasize about Patrick Kane)

As far as pricing goes, Davidson will only be looking for something short-term. A 2-year deal would be ideal as players like Bedard get ready for new contracts.

Don't expect much of anything. There aren't any interesting candidates out there.

Let's Go Hawks.