NHL Insider, Frank Seravalli, Reports That The Blackhawks Are Trying To Make A Big Trade For A Scoring Winger
When you start the season 4-8 then everything is on the table. We aren't even in November yet and the Blackhawks are looking to make moves because they clearly feel that the current roster isn't good enough.
They've been linked with Philly for a trade, another team struggling to start the year
Frank Nazar is one name that came up while in discussion with Flyers sources Monday. The Flyers do like the 13th-overall pick from 2022 and view him with top-six upside long term; that said, the Blackhawks don’t seem in the market to trade him right now, DFO was told. Nazar, 22, is in the first season of a seven-year, $46.2-million contract.
According to a source, there is a belief that the Blackhawks could view 2025-first-round pick Anton Frondell’s skillset as more of an authentic third-line center, which could (theoretically) push Nazar up to a second-line role. Nazar has three goals and one assist through nine games this season.
The Flyers are in the hunt for a center, supposedly. If they need a center in return for Owen Tippett, well...where is that going to come from? Obviously the Blackhawks aren't going to trade Bedard, they're definitely not going to trade Anton Frondell. I can't imagine a scenario where the Blackhawks get better by trading Frank Nazar when he's been arguably their best player this season. Then there's Oliver Moore. It isn't even obvious that the Blackhawks think Oliver Moore is going to be a long time center. Seravalli says that Davidson isn't getting much traction in the hunt for a winger, and it's probably because there isn't a "hockey trade" to be made right now. The Flyers were a playoff team last year. I am sure they are stunned to find themselves dead last in the Eastern Conference today.
Then when you look around the NHL at teams that are clearly thinking about the future it's most obviously Vancouver and Calgary. They might have their head turned by the Blackhawks young players, prospects, and first round picks in 2027, but who on their rosters turns your head and who would be that bigger, shoot-first, scoring winger on those rosters? I like Joel Farrabee a lot, but he certainly doesn't fit that description. Maybe Brock Boesser, but he's 29 years-old and is in the 2nd year of a 7 year deal.
There doesn't seem to be an obvious solution to their problems outside the organization.
It was nice to get a win last night. Great time to catch an average LA Kings team though. Last game of a 5 game road trip and the second half of a back-to-back. The vibes change pretty quickly though when you look at the next batch of games.
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After Detroit, that is murderers row. If the Blackhawks wake up on November 13th and they're sitting at 5-13 the season is all but cooked. What levers are their to pull then?
I don't think adding an Owen Tippett type of guy is going to fix the Blackhawks scoring issues. I think their scoring problems are coming because their best guys just don't have the puck enough in the offensive end and I think it all starts with how they set up on the neutral zone and subsequently how they break the puck out.
The Blackhawks use a 1-1-3 through the neutral zone. A lot of teams use that. Tampa and Florida probably do it the best. You deny clean entries and force things wide. Teams want to carry the puck into zone instead of being forced to dump the puck in which you typically have to do against the 1-1-3. NOBODY fears dumping the puck in against the Blackhawks because the Blackhawks can't break the puck out. Once the Blackhawks get on the puck in their own end it's almost always a scramble drill. If F3 picks up the puck first on the dump in, or one of the D, there's almost never a simple first pass to start the break out. Wingers don't appear to be in their spots often enough. Same goes for the weak side Dman or F3. The Blackhawks are forced to make tough passes into tight areas and inevitably it gets turned over the Blackhawks can't score because they're hemmed in their own zone for the majority of the game. Can't score when you're 200 ft away from the other team's net.
The 1-1-3 is great if you've got the horses to run it. I think it's pretty clear through 12 games that the Blackhawks don't. The Blackhawks have spent years drafting fast, undersized forwards, and big, rangy, mobile defensemen. I don't see the logic at this point in playing a passive neutral zone. Turn your forwards loose in a 2-1-2 or a 1-2-2 and let your big defensemen gap up and play on the front foot instead of always having to turn and recover and pray they're able to get it out of the zone. The Blackhawks will give up more clean entries, they might give up more rush chances and chances through the middle, but how long can they keep banging their heads against the wall with how they're choosing to play right now. I feel like we don't even know which of the young guys are even good right now because nobody seems to know where to be and they're all out their thinking and unable to play off of instinct. I think it's time to simplify things and dictate how the game is going to go because through 12 games this experiment isn't working.