With less than 24 hours until the NHL Entry Draft, the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets are reportedly working on a trade involving defenseman Seth Jones. And according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the deal being considered would NOT involve the Blackhawks sending either of Kirby Dach or Alex DeBrincat.
From Friedman’s report:
What the two teams are trying to do is find common ground without including either of them (Dach and DeBrincat); finding another mix of Chicago’s young players, prospects and high draft picks. (The Blackhawks are scheduled to select 12th in the first round.) It is believed they are one of the teams that could secure a long-term commitment from Jones.
According to Friedman, the original asking price for Jones included either of Dach or DeBrincat in a package from the Blackhawks, making the overall appeal to Chicago iffy. Indeed, the Blackhawks have already said that they have no intentions to trade Kirby Dach (and it’s safe to say the same goes for DeBrincat). Both players are cornerstones to the rebuilding process. It’s a classic robbing Peter to pay Paul dilemma.
So with that in mind, landing the 26-year-old defenseman from Columbus, will require some creativity with Chicago’s prospects and draft picks. Though the Blue Jackets are reportedly not as interested in draft picks as they are NHL-ready young talent.
But we’re not shooting entirely in the dark here. A speculative piece from The Athletic discusses a trade package for Jones involving the Blackhawks’ 2022 first-round pick, Philipp Kurashev, Nicolas Beaudin, and Ian Mitchell, as was a similar trade package that included the Blackhawks’ 2020 first-round pick, Lukas Reichel. Again, that’s just a speculative exercise, but perhaps it can help get us closer.
We’ll see where this goes as the NHL Entry Draft approaches on Friday night with the first round beginning at 7:00 p.m. CT. Stay tuned. And please consider following us on Facebook and Twitter if you aren’t already.
