VANCOUVER — The Blackhawks and Devils swapped depth forwards in a minor draft-day trade Saturday, sending John Quenneville to Chicago and John Hayden to New Jersey.
The two are very similar players.
Quenneville, 23, has scored five points in 33 career NHL games over three seasons, though he was very productive in the AHL last season (39 points in 37 appearances). He’s the cousin of Joel, the former beloved Hawks coach.
Hayden, 24, broke through from taxi-squad shuffler to full-time NHL-er last year, playing 54 games with the Hawks, but tallied only five points himself. His big 6-foot-3 frame but slow skating struggled to fit into Jeremy Colliton’s new, modern system.
The main benefit for the Hawks is the difference in the two depth forwards’ contracts.
Hayden has another year left on a one-way contract entering 2019-20; Quenneville is a restricted free agent after just finishing his entry-level deal. The Hawks can now either leave Quenneville unqualified, letting him walk as an unrestricted free agent and freeing up another slot under the 50-contract limit, or try to sign him to a two-way deal and send him to Rockford.
That flexibility could be quietly valuable as general manager Stan Bowman continues on with what is expected to be a very busy offseason.
