Feb. 26--The Blackhawks have struck a major blow before the NHL's trade deadline, landing one of the most sought after players available in Jets winger Andrew Ladd, a former Hawk who helped the team win a Stanley Cup in 2010.
But the Hawks certainly paid a heavy cost to acquire Ladd, who is in the final year of his contract. The Hawks sent highly-valued prospect Marko Dano and a first-round pick in the 2016, plus a conditional pick in the 2018 draft to bring in Ladd, who fills a need the Hawks have for a top-line left winger. Ladd, 30, has 17 goals and 17 assists in 59 games with the Jets this season.
The Jets retained approximately one-third Ladd's $4.4 million salary-cap hit, meaning the Hawks may not be done dealing. The Hawks will be approximately $1 million under the cap at the end of the season if their roster remains the same, according to generalfanager.com.
The Hawks also acquired AHL players Matt Fraser and defenseman Jay Harrison, but the message sent in acquiring Ladd, one of the big fish available at the trade deadline was clear -- the Hawks have a championship window open this season and general manager Stan Bowman is going for it, even if it means sacrificing vaulable prospects and draft picks in later seasons.
The Hawks now do not have first- or second-round picks in this coming draft (they traded their second-rounder to acquire defenseman Kimmo Timonen last season), but they now have a top-line left winger to play alongside Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa the rest of this season. And right now, this season is what matters most to the Hawks.
And this season, they could still use a top-four caliber defenseman. Of the seven-defensemen the Hawks have on the roster, three are playing in their first full NHL season while Michal Rozsival is 37. The question is if the Hawks can make such a deal work and if they are willing to pay the hefty price they will likely pay for such a player.
As for the price they paid in this deal, Dano, 21, did not figure much into the Hawks' plans for this season. He was a big acquisition in June when the Hawks traded Brandon Saad to the Blue Jackets but had trouble adjusting to the Hawks' system. He failed to make the roster out of training camp and could not stick with the Hawks when the team brought him up for 13 games earlier this season.
