Failed blockbuster Duncan Keith trade revealed!

When we look back at the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, 2013 and 2015, we think about the Stanley Cups, the dynasty that was and players like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith, who made it all possible. 

Do you ever wonder how many Stanley Cups the Blackhawks could have won without Keith? Because it almost happened! 

In a recent interview with The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus , former Hawks general manager Mike Smith revealed how he nearly traded the star defenseman in a packaged deal to the Philadelphia Flyers that would have returned both Jeremy Roenick and Tony Amonte back to Chicago. 

Smith claimed his successor Bob Pulford, planned on packaging Keith with three other players to return Roenick and Amonte but the 2004-05 lockout prevented any trades from happening as a result of the trade market being frozen for the year.

Keith had a standout season in the American Hockey League with the Norfolk Admirals during the lockout and made the Hawks roster out of camp the next season. As you know, he led Chicago to three Stanley Cups and earned a Conn Smythe trophy in 2015.

We are thankful that Smith did not manage to pull the trigger on that deal. He was ultimately fired in 2003.

That was a close one!