Hawks “willing to accept anything” to make a trade

Black Friday special in Chicago?!

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Published 5 years ago
Hawks “willing to accept anything” to make a trade
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Something needs to be done in Chicago... The Blackhawks  are currently sitting in sixth place of the Central Division ahead of only the St. Louis Blues and general manager Stan Bowman is doing everything he can to help his team. 

However, he needs to be careful about trading players: the Hawks need immediate help to get out of the league's basement, though Chicago needs to be very careful about its cap space with just $4.98 million available. 

According to Scott Powers of The Athletic, the Blackhawks are trying to trade defensemen Brandon Manning and Jan Rutta. And Powers cites a source that says the Blackhawks “would be willing to accept anything” to get either one of the blue liners off the books. 

Both players carry a $2.25 million salary cap hit, according to the information provided by CapFriendly. Manning agreed to a two-year contract in July, while Rutta re-signed with Chicago on a one-year deal after joining the organization as a free agent out of the Czech Republic before the start of the 2017-18 season.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman linked the Hawks to Vancouver Canucks forward Sam Gagner, who was loaned once again to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League earlier this week. This potential trade could be quite beneficial for Gagner, who could bloom from this change of scenery and help the Hawks get back into contention. 

The 29-year-old put up 31 points at the NHL level with Vancouver last season. He signed with Vancouver as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2017, agreeing to a three-year, $9.45-million contract.

The Hawks also need help on the back end... so, do you move players around, for nothing, like Manning and Rutta to be able to bring in a player that will make a difference even though he takes up a bit of cap room? 

“I don’t know if they’ll find suitors,” the source said. “It all depends. Manning is a 6/7 defenseman guy. If you want to get your depth guy now, then maybe. The problem is he has that extra year. Management doesn’t usually want that. It’s about the flexibility. The Blackhawks could eat some of his salary. As for Rutta, I don’t know. I never say never. Some people think they can turn a player around.”

The message is now clear in Chicago: Bowman is having a pre-Christmas sale, how own Black Friday madness, and some teams might be willing to take a shot at one of the two blue liners. The special in on now as Connor Murphy is due to return from a back injury.

Smells like a trade might be in the works in the Windy City... 

Source: The Athletic