1 player Blackhawks must trade before 2026 NHL Trade Deadline

The Chicago Blackhawks looked to have made some progress this season. And to some extent, they have. Goaltender Spencer Knight is fifth in the NHL for WAR among goalies, according to Evolving Hockey. Prior to an injury in mid-December, Connor Bedard was establishing himself as an MVP candidate. Unfortunately, though, none of this has been enough for Chicago.

The Blackhawks will come out of the NHL’s Olympic break 10 points out of a playoff spot. They trail the San Jose Sharks, the team directly above them in the Wild Card race, by five points. All signs point to the Blackhawks once again missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

And to be fair, that result wasn’t entirely unexpected heading into this season. New head coach Jeff Blashill is tasked with getting this team to the playoffs. But expectations were that it might take a couple of seasons. Progress is the main mandate, and Blashill is delivering on that for the most part.

The 2026 NHL Trade Deadline is nearly upon us, coming around on March 6th. This will be Chicago’s final opportunity to sell off some pieces from its roster and add draft pick capital for the summer. Thankfully, they do have one trade candidate who could attract some interest once the deadline rolls around next month.

Blackhawks could reap benefits from Andre Burakovsky trade

Andre Burakovsky joined the Blackhawks through trade back in the summer. The Seattle Kraken sent the veteran winger to the Windy City in exchange for Joe Veleno. The trade essentially ended up being a freebie for Chicago, as Veleno was bought out by the Kraken shortly after the deal went down.

Chicago would be thankful for the deal either way. Burakovsky has had a rather solid season with the Blackhawks. He has already matched his goal total from the 2024-25 campaign. And he’s seven points away from matching his point total. He is currently on pace to finish the season with 46 points, which would be his best point total since 2021-22.

The trade market this season is quite thin on wingers, especially when it comes to rentals. Burakovsky is not a rental, but at the same time, he isn’t signed long-term. The 31-year-old Swede is signed through next season at a cap hit of $5.5 million.

This is quite the beefy cap hit, but the Blackhawks have two of their three retention slots available. Seth Jones is taking up one, but Chicago can retain up to 50% of Burakovsky’s salary to maximize a return in any potential trade.

If Chicago chose to do this, Burakovsky would only count for $2.75 million against the cap. This is an amount that many contending teams could fit into their salary cap structure. And it would also put Burakovsky on the table as a truly attractive trade candidate.

There are certainly concerns about the veteran winger. For instance, he is not great defensively and, in fact, leads all Blackhawks forwards with the highest goals allowed per 60 minutes, per Evolving Hockey. Still, the offense is promising, as he has the second-highest expected goals per 60 among Chicago forwards.

The Blackhawks certainly have more obvious trade candidates on the roster. Pending free agent Connor Murphy is one player who stands out. However, Chicago should go for value on the trade market this year. An Andre Burakovsky trade may bring in the most value of any player the team could realistically trade.

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