Trade Deadline Cometh, Trade Deadline Goeth

It's been just over three months since the Blackhawks new GM took over the helm. With a clear vision of the direction of the team, the new front office went to work. Since mid-February, management has shed almost $17M in salary. This meant shipping out quality players such as newly acquired goalie in the off-season Rask, the captain of the club Oshie as well as other veterans as well as their top pairing that started the season in Martinez and McDonough.

Surprsingly, as the team saw quality players out the door, the Blackhawks position remained steady as a bubble playoff team. Without their own 1st round pick this year, there was no urgency in dismantling the team as they knew that they had no lottery ticket of their own.

Now that the deadline has past, GM Doogan-Smith has completed a total of 11 trades to start to shape the team for the future. This has brought in a total of 6 additional draft picks as well as two highly coveted prospects in Ceulemans and Wallinder and cash. On the transactions made GM Doogan-Smith had this to say:

"The level of intelligence of the other GMs in this league is high. We really wanted to make smart deals here and that results in us taking more time at the negotiating table for the bigger deals to come together. Did every deal go as planned in retrospect? No, but I think we nailed most of them and that's something we can hold our head high about. Now that the trade deadline has passed we're excited to have the season finish and get to work in the off-season."

This off-season is where the Blackhawks will really start to see changes, but the management team is already looking towards the 2023 draft where they have amassed 9 draft picks. Now that the trade deadline has come and gone, the next chapter in the organization can begin.