Sources Tell The Athletic That The Blackhawks Are Going To Make A Push For Dougie Hamilton Or Seth Jones And Could Trade Dach

And...it's rumor season

I participated in this game myself just the other day

I will be upfront with you guys. I have VERY limited sources on player personnel stuff. I have to rely on a couple of guys who are in close proximity to hockey ops, player agents, and my own brain, which is a considerable source. There's a push and pull in the blogs between what I think the Blackhawks WILL do and what they SHOULD do. 

Now I am sure some of you(morons) will read that headline and the names involved and say "tHEy wOnT TrADe dAcH. NoT foR a BUm LiKE jOnES", but before you do I'd like to remind you

2010: Kevin Hayes…never signed. 

2011: Phillip Danault…traded. Brandon Saad traded(twice)

2012: Teravainen…traded. 

2013: Ryan Hartman…traded

2014: Nick Schmaltz…traded

2017: Henri Jokiharju…traded

Bowman also traded another 1st round talent named Artemi Panarin before his 2nd contract kicked in. If that isn't enough evidence to show that Bowman will trade a former high draft pick then I don't know what will. Dach is CLEARLY not an untouchable and to be quite honest, I don't think he should be either. 

Dach has played 82 regular season games so far in his young career. He has 33 points to his name. Not lighting the world on fire by any stretch, but I think that is good production for a kid that has had his development jerked around a bit. Injuries before both of his first two seasons. Probably didn't need to be in the NHL at 18 years old. We've seen enough flashes out of Dach in limited and odd circumstances to believe he will be a productive top 6 center for the next 10 years. If he were to build on what we saw from him in the bubble then he looks like a legit 1C who could maybe get to a ppg level in the NHL. If he's closer to the version we've seen during the regular season he could be a consistent 55-65 point guy who plays a very good two-way game. That's more of a 2C on a very good team. I think some people will interpret that as an insult or that I don't believe in Dach. That couldn't be further from the truth. Love the kid. Like his game a lot. If you draft someone and they turn into a bonafide 2C in the NHL that is a good pick. 

I don't WANT to trade Dach for a defenseman. If Dach is included in a trade for Jones then the Blackhawks better be sure of a few things. 1) Toews will come back and be Jonathan Toews. 2) They better REALLY love Strome, Suter, and Borgstrom. They'll need one of those guys to step in immediately to a top 6 center role. You could argue that Suter already did it because he played a ton this year with Kane and Debrincat. I would argue that I want a better center for Patrick Kane because he's never really had one and he deserves it. If Dach is going to be traded I'd rather pursue a deal for Eichel. 

As much as I love Kirby Dach, he is not the same level of player that Eichel is. Eichel has been right about at or over a PPG his entire career despite playing for the world's shittiest organization. If Eichel were to be healthy and given a full year with Patrick Kane I guarantee he'd have 100 points. I guess my point is if Dach is on the table to Jones then he should be on the table for Eichel. No idea what else it would take, but that is something the Hawks should explore. They might deem Kirby as an untouchable and feel like they can get him locked up at a more reasonable rate. That is probably true. And…

Bowman said that he didn't think signing Panarin was a good option at the time because he didn't want three players making $10M+. He was wrong about that. Maybe he changed his mind. Maybe he hasn't. The truth is that he doesn't have to change him mind and he can still add Eichel or Jones to a BIG contract. I am about to make everyone sad here…do you know how much money the Blackhawks have currently committed to the cap beyond next year(2023)?…It is a grand total of $1.35M that is owed to Riley Stillman. That's it(unless you count the Seabs LTIR). Toews and Kane are up. Keith is up. Debrincat's deal is expired. Kubalik…expired. Murphy and deHaan…expired. Kubalik…expired. The point being is that the Blackhawks have the financial flexibility to do whatever they want long term. If the Blackhawks are somehow able to move Seabrook, Shaw, and then depending on how the expansion draft goes for them with deHaan/Zadorov…you could make an argument that the Blackhawks are actually in a position to add BOTH Jones and Eichel. I am NOT saying that is likely. My gut says they won't be able to get either of them let alone both. It is at least theoretically possible from a cap situation. 

As far as Dougie Hamilton and Seth Jones go…I've said my piece on them. There's a faction of hockey twitter that is filled with morons and all they want to do is cancel people and tell you how smart they are because they can read a chart from evolving hockey or some other site. I understand that data. I consume that data. I use that data. I am also capable of free and independent thought. I know that hockey is a game of infinite variables that are happening at all times from the length of shifts to opponents to teammates to how choppy the ice is to situations and on and on and on and that is why teams don't make their data or tracking publicly available. The data teams use is largely proprietary. If it was as simple as the dopes on twitter make it out to be then teams wouldn't spend millions of dollars on analytics departments. They'd simply get an evolving hockey premium account. Seth Jones is the better all around player. He is a bit younger than Hamilton. Jones plays tougher and meaner than Hamilton. He can run your PP. The people who say otherwise don't actually watch hockey. They just like to complain and shout on the internet. I think Hamilton will get a big deal from someone. I don't think that someone will be the Blackhawks. 

These are weird times for the Chicago Blackhawks. Nothing is off the table. They never really stick to a path. No idea who has what level of job security. No idea if they feel a sense of urgency knowing full well that Keith, Kane, and Toews only have two years left on their deals and they're facing a reality of not winning a single playoff series for the entirety of those contracts unless they do something significant to improve the team. The entire landscape makes me nervous.