Rumor: Blackhawks have two players that could be traded in season.

The Chicago Blackhawks are in total disarray at the moment and there is a growing sense that the team may already be prepared to throw in the towel. There has been talk of a lost season already in spite of the fact that we are only in the month of November, and there may be good reason to believe that is indeed the case.

The Blackhawks have reportedly decided not to search for a new head coach this season after making the long anticipated decision to fire former head coach Jeremy Colliton. The decision to wait until after the season has already concluded would appear to indicate that ownership is looking to make sweeping changes after this catastrophic season.

There may even be reason to believe that the Blackhawks could make changes to their roster in season as they look towards the future, especially when you consider what is at stake.

Chicago Blackhawks insider Scott Powers shared his thoughts on the matter and came up with two players that he believes could be moved prior to the National Hockey League's trade deadline, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and forward Dominik Kubalik. From Powers:

The Blackhawks probably don’t have a lot of players they can move during the season, but there are some. Dominik Kubalik might have some value. He’s due another contract at end of the season and may not be in the long-term plans. Does someone want to bring in Fleury to bolster their goaltending?

If the Blackhawks are indeed ready to give up on this season, moving out pieces like Kubalik and Fleury makes a great deal of sense. Fleury will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season so getting any kind of return for him on the trade market would be a win in the long term. Kubalik on the other hand will be a restricted free agent and offering him a new deal if the team is headed towards a rebuild may not be a part of the Blackhawks' long term vision.

It is also worth noting that we may have already reached the point where subtracting from the Blackhawks' roster may be an appealing prospect for management. Currently the Blackhawks will have to give up their first round pick in 2022 to the Columbus Blue Jackets, one of the pieces they gave up in order to acquire defenseman Seth Jones via trade. Thankfully for the Blackhawks however, former general manager Stan Bowman had the foresight to attach some conditions to that pick and as a result there are scenarios under which that pick could be delayed for one year. 

Should the Blackhawks prove to be bad enough to be entered into the NHL's Draft Lottery, that would give them the opportunity to meet the conditions to delay the pick. Even in this scenario the Blackhawks would actually have to be one of the lottery winners in order to avoid giving up the pick to the Blue Jackets, but given how bad things have gone this season it may be something the team is already contemplating.