{"id":589638,"date":"2026-06-02T21:03:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/589638\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T21:03:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:03:15","slug":"blackhawks-latest-trade-exposes-problem-that-must-be-fixed-immediately","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/589638\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackhawks&#8217; latest trade exposes problem that must be fixed immediately"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this week, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/chicagoblackhawks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chicago Blackhawks<\/a> traded the rights of former third-round pick Jack Pridham to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a third-rounder in what could only be considered a horizontal move for the franchise.<\/p>\n<p>The Blackhawks drafted Pridham in 2024 and had high hopes for the 20-year-old, but he made it clear he didn\u2019t want to sign a contract with them.<\/p>\n<p>That marks the second time this has happened to Chicago involving a draft pick in recent years. Remember: last summer, former sixth-round pick Dominic James decided to bolt the Blackhawks in free agency after failing to strike a deal with them, signing with the Lightning.<\/p>\n<p>Scott Powers of The Athletic explained the reason for both flubs, and it\u2019s concerning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn both cases, the players didn\u2019t share the Blackhawks\u2019 vision and weren\u2019t completely confident there would be a roster spot waiting for them in the end. They looked at the plethora of young players in the Blackhawks system \u2014 from the NHL to AHL to unsigned \u2014 and the math didn\u2019t add up,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7325577\/2026\/06\/02\/blackhawks-jack-pridham-trade-prospects-dominic-james\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Powers wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>So, what does this mean for Chicago?<\/p>\n<p>Chicago Blackhawks must start to consolidate<br \/>\n<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-169354\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/USATSI_20963477_168419782_lowres-900x600.jpg\" alt=\"Chicago Blackhawks\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\"  \/>Jun 28, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson congratulates first overall pick Connor Bedard during the 2023 NHL Draft at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n<p>The Blackhawks are absolutely loaded with draft capital. They have three second-round picks this year and also own three first-rounders in 2027. They will be adding even more players to their already stacked pool of young talent, and while that sounds like a good thing, it\u2019s also dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>Chicago has too many young players, so much so that the path of incoming youngsters is blocked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen a team drafts 38 players, including 28 in the first three rounds, over the last four years, some of those players might think their NHL goal might be easier achieved elsewhere,\u201d Powers added.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s time for the Blackhawks to start consolidating and trading some of their young players \u2014 and draft picks \u2014 for established talent. Chicago has shown improvement each of the last two seasons, so it is getting closer to contending. Why not put more starpower alongside of Connor Bedard?<\/p>\n<p>Right now, the Blackhawks\u2019 roster is teeming with young defensemen, for example, and not all of them with receive significant playing time. There is no question Chicago should be aiming to trade some of them, and if it can package some draft capital in the deal, as well, it may be able to land an impactful veteran.<\/p>\n<p>The Blackhawks have done a fine job of rebuilding, but now, it\u2019s time for them to take things to the next level.<\/p>\n<p>                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/USATSI_28584946_168419782_lowres.jpg\" alt=\"Chicago Blackhawks could trade for this 23-year-old player during the offseason\" class=\"post-image\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                        Chicago Blackhawks could trade for this 23-year-old player during the offseason<br \/>\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicitysports.com\/chicago-blackhawks-could-trade-for-this-23-year-old-player-during-the-offseason\/\" class=\"read-more\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\tFor More Great Chicago Sports Content<\/p>\n<p>        <a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLGY9QowgMXbAg?hl=en-US&amp;gl=US&amp;ceid=US%3Aen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-10.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Get the latest Chicago sports news, analysis, and breaking stories on the Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, Cubs, White Sox, Sky, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on <a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLGY9QowgMXbAg?hl=en-US&amp;gl=US&amp;ceid=US%3Aen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Google News<\/a>, so you never miss a story on your favorite Chicago teams.<\/p>\n<p>Follow us on Twitter at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chicitysports23\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@chicitysports23<\/a> for more great content. We appreciate you taking time to read our articles. To interact more with our community and keep up to date on the latest in Chicago sports news, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/chicagosports247\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP by CLICKING HERE <\/a><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier this week, the Chicago Blackhawks traded the rights of former third-round pick Jack Pridham to the Tampa&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[521,14465,37,96,5263,5,19248,4,106],"class_list":["post-589638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-blackhawks","tag-blackhawks","tag-blackhawks-news","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-blackhawks","tag-chicagoblackhawks","tag-hockey","tag-jack-pridham","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116682542549935347","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}