Chicago Blackhawks

Rumors: Hjalmarsson, Girardi, Wingels
June 15, 2017, 11:52 AM ET [488 Comments]
John Jaeckel
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First, a big shout out and thanks to Matt Peck and Matt Zawaski of the 312 podcast for having me on as a guest last night:

https://soundcloud.com/the-312-sportsmockery/ep-77-blackhawks-offseason-show-with-john-jaeckel-and-scott-powers

Regular readers here will recognize a lot of the points of view I've shared previously, but the boys graciously allowed me to expand on a lot of subjects. Give it a listen if you have the time—and definitely give those guys a follow.

First a quick rundown on a couple of yesterday's Twitterverse rumors and my take on them:

1) Anisimov and a first round pick to Montreal for Alex Galchenyuk.

I believe the Hawks and Montreal have talked about Anisimov, and Galchenyuk's name may have entered that conversation. I was told specifically yesterday that an additional 1st round pick was not offered for Galchenyuk.

2) Sam Reinhart, Alex Nylander, Zemgus Girgensons and Buffalo's first round pick in 2017 (8th overall) for Patrick Kane.

This one feels more in the realm of something someone concocted. Sounds great. And who knows, maybe Buffalo really wants their hometown boy that much to play along side Ryan O'reilly and Jack Eichel. But in addition to the hard decision an offer like that would force on the Hawks—and the unlikely choice of moving on without their best offensive player—it's just hard to see a trade like this happening.

On to today's rumors (from me). Some good, some maybe not so good, depending on your point of view.

On the podcast last night, Matt Zawaski brought up how rumors that one of your favorite Hawks may get traded, will trigger a visceral reaction, and desire to shoot the messenger. This, in my experience, is true.

So in this case, I may need to shoot myself.

I have been hearing a lot in the last 24-48 hours or so about the possibility of Niklas Hjalmarsson being dealt.

Now, I think I have been fairly honest in admitting, it seems like it's someone else every single day. And maybe that's because it quite literally is someone else every single day—or close to that. As I've said recently, I believe the Hawks are "open for business" and the league's GMs know it—that the Hawks have quietly and not so quietly shopped a couple of their higher paid players, and they've received some calls and interest on some others. That means a lot of conversations, and a lot of possibilities (and rumors) bubbling up all over the place.

I believe Hjalmarsson falls into the latter category—a guy the Hawks have not shopped per se, but have gotten a lot of calls on.

Hjalmarsson also doesn't have a no-movement clause. He's signed for two more years on a very affordable deal. And as such, with his pedigree and rock-solid ability, he, maybe right up there with Artemi Panarin is a more tradeable asset that also brings back a substantial return. The message I received a little while ago.

"Hjalmarsson is drawing significant interest. TB and Montreal have inquired . . . for now."

You'll note this source does not mention the (alleged) New Jersey offer for Hjalmarsson I shared last night. So without knowing with 100% certainty, which teams in totality have inquired about Hjalmarsson, maybe the key phrase in all this is "for now."

Meaning: the demand for Hjalmarsson may drive up the offer for him to a place where the Hawks can't say no.

As I said on my thread here, a twitter thread and the podcast last night, I don't think the possibility of a higher than expected cap means the Hawks are less likely to make a deal. I think it means it's more likely they will.

From 2010 through 2014, the Hawks seemed to always have to lose some salary in the offseason. And that was always the "dance": lose this contract or that, either to free agency or in some trade that usually didn't bring that much back.

But it was OK, because the remaining "core" was so good, and there were guys like Corey Crawford, Brandon Saad, Andrew Shaw, Marcus Kruger, Nick Leddy ready to step up. I mean, really ready.

After the 2015 Cup, and after the core had aged a bit, it's become pretty apparent that the talent pipeline isn't producing truly NHL ready prospects on an annual basis—or the ones that are coming along don't really fit the open roles on the roster. For example, Ryan Hartman and Nick Schmaltz are probably best suited to right wing and center respectively—the Hawks' biggest need upfront has been at left wing.

But I digress, long story short, the Hawks have a hockey problem—as well as a salary cap problem.

Just avoiding trading a "core" player only preserves the status quo of a team that's been eliminated from the playoffs in the first round two years running. And no, Alex DeBrincat is in all likelihood not changing that this year.

Meanwhile, a higher cap actually helps another team absorb a bigger contract (like a Hawk "core" veteran) in trade.

So hold on tight. A deal is probably coming. Question is who and where.

And if it were Hjalmarsson or Brent Seabrook going elsewhere, how might you (somewhat) backfill the right side defense?

Well, guess which recently bought out 33 year old defenseman is a big favorite of new Hawk assistant coach (with responsibility for defense) Ulf Samuelsson?

Enter . . . Dan Girardi.

The Hawks I'm told may have interest.

Finally, as far as a lower line, energy player, the Hawks allegedly have interest in Winnetka's Tommy Wingels— a good kid who's tough to play against.

All I have for now.