Blackhawks Acquire Sam Lafferty….Again

Déjà vu, all over again. For the second straight summer, the Chicago Blackhawks acquired forward Sam Lafferty in a trade. Last year, he was part of the Ilya Mikheyev trade with the Vancouver Canucks, but he did not sign with the team, opting instead to take a two-year deal with the Buffalo Sabres. This time around, he will play for the Blackhawks, as he has one year left on that contract at $2 million.

The Blackhawks sent a 2026 sixth-round pick to Buffalo to bring back Lafferty again. He previously spent parts of two seasons in Chicago, where he scored 15 goals and 32 points in 97 games. Lafferty will fit head coach Jeff Blashill’s philosophy of good defensive habits leading to offensive chances. He’s a solid two-way player with good speed and will be one of the team’s top penalty killers.

However, this is another indication that we should not expect a major acquisition from what remains in the free agent market. That doesn’t mean there won’t be a more significant trade coming, but the Blackhawks appear to be satisfied with letting their young core take another year to develop in the NHL, AHL, college, or juniors.