Blackhawks Remain Quiet But Could the Offseason Bring More Noise?

CHICAGO – In the end, the only Blackhawks player who leaving the team on Friday was Boris Katchouk, claimed by the Ottawa Senators. Though they dealt Anthony Beauvillier earlier in the week, the past trade deadline day–and week–was much quieter than years past with general manager Kyle Davidson running the show.

Davidson admitted there wasn’t much for them to do as in years’ past.

“Bit of a slower year with the deadline this year,” Davidson said.  “Obviously traded Anthony to the Predators for a fifth-round pick. Other than that, we didn’t make any other moves. Some chatter but not a whole lot of substance there.”

The substance seemed everywhere else outside of Chicago, but it’s not entirely a bad thing. It’s a clue that this very well could be the bottom year for a rebuilding team and that maybe more pieces will be added to start prodding the Blackhawks way back to contention.

Blackhawks Move Forward Without Moving Many Out

Going into the game against Washington tomorrow night, the Blackhawks might see additions with Andreas Athanasiou returning as early as tomorrow night as he traveled with the team. Nikita Zaitsev will make his return, too.

So with that group, and what likely wouldn’t add much more than a late round pick, why try to force something?

“Heading into it, I thought there would be a little more activity,” Davidson said.  “Whether we did something or not was a different story. I just thought there would be a little more action on our end, but it was quieter, which is fine.”

Quieter indeed, as opposed to the workmanship Davidson put forth when he started the gig back as the interim general manager. He dealt away young talent and icons in Brandon Hagel, Alex Debrincat, Kirby Dach, and Patrick Kane. The 2024 version of the trade deadline was a much calmer version that will allow the season to play out the string with a lot of the faces that started it.

“We’re happy with the group we have moving through the deadline,” Davidson said.  “I wasn’t like dead-set on trying to make other moves. If it happened, it happened–and it didn’t.”

So What About the Offseason?

This is where it gets interesting–at least from an objective point of view. The Blackhawks have likely hit the rock bottom version of the rebuild with nowhere to go but up. That means finding the pieces via trade–and maybe some luck in free agency. But the real challenge of Davidson’s job starts there. Time is a precious thing–but so is patience. Believe it or not, a season from now, Bedard’s entry-level deal will be a year from renewal. Chicago can’t afford to waste that year a second straight season with long stretches of losing. Davidson talked a lot of confidence. Building on the foundational pieces is the best way to build that.

But when it comes to free agency, at least, Davidson will still show caution when it comes to term.

“I don’t know if we’ll be in the long-term game,” Davidson said.  “We’ll kind of evaluate that when we get there and see where we’re at in a couple of months. But we’ll again, as we did last year and maybe more so this year, we’ll look to probably explore free agency and see. It’s all about what’s there, too, right? But it’s something we’re willing to explore and kind of dip into if it’s advantageous to us. But we also have to be mindful of where we are in this process as well and not do anything to harm the long-term.”

Mindful too, that now, the harder part of the rebuild is starting–finding the right players to bring in that escapes wandering in the hockey wilderness.

Follow Chicago Hockey Now on Facebook and Twitter

Follow Nate on Twitter