The first shoe dropped for the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday. Connor Murphy, the longest tenured player on the roster, was shipped to Edmonton for a second-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft. Murphy was always a class act who faced the cameras and mics after games — good or bad — which wasn’t the case with some other defensemen over the last couple years. He was amazing in the community. He was traded here almost a decade ago and became a Chicagoan. He’ll be missed in the room by his teammates, but also by the reporters who always got an honest answer — and usually a smile with it.
According to @frank_seravalli, the @EdmontonOilers are reportedly acquiring Connor Murphy from Chicago. @JamisonCoyle and @mike_p_johnson discuss the reported move on #NHLPrimeTime! NHL Network's coverage of the 2026 #NHLTradeDeadline begins Friday at 10a ET! pic.twitter.com/7OAyMImMKS
— NHL Media (@NHLMedia) March 2, 2026There was some chatter on social media from fans who apparently were/are struggling to understand why the Blackhawks would take back a second-round pick in 2028. There are two primary reasons for that, which I briefly touched on yesterday when the trade broke. But the biggest reason GMKD is willing to take future assets is because, at some point, he’s going to be a Buyer and need picks/prospects to trade for the right guy at the right time.
But he’s also consistently talked about sustained excellence; they don’t want to trade all of their picks away and not have the ability to make moves when needed, but they also want to be able to continue stockpiling the pipeline with quality prospects. This was solid asset management by GMKD.
One thought about the Connor Murphy return: A 2028 pick is arguably more valuable to the Blackhawks than a 2026 pick.The 2028 pick has fixed value for 2+ years and can be flipped later when they become buyers.More analysis of the now-official deal: t.co/XeC3ZmL8DD
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 2, 2026 Shayna Goldman and Mark Lazerus graded the Murphy trade at The Athletic. Laz gave the Blackhawks a B+ while Goldman gave the Blackhawks a solid B. I was on the Jason Gregor Show in Edmonton last night talking about the trade and some other Blackhawks topics.ICYMI, Check out our chat with @The1Tab on the @JasonGregor Show recapping the Connor Murphy trade earlier today! #LetsGoOilers #Blackhawks t.co/c3n3CKSoDO t.co/sm8hUZ1aOD
— Sports 1440 (@Sports1440) March 3, 2026 A reminder: I have a complete list of every move made by Kyle Davidson since becoming the interim general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks here on the site. Might be useful for discussion this week before/after the deadline. Speaking of Davidson… my good friend Dennis Bernstein shared that the Blackhawks GM was on the guest list in LA last night for Avs at Kings. I could see a number of potential moves between the Blackhawks and either of those teams. Colorado is reportedly shopping for a third-line center, and Jason Dickinson would be a tremendous fit (even if they’re supposedly more focused on Nazem Kadri). I’ve been saying Ilya Mikheyev is the right add for the Kings since before the season began.Scouts for COL/LAK CHI GM Kyle Davidson listed ?ANA NSH SJS STL OTT NYR
— Dennis Bernstein (@DennisTFP) March 3, 2026 Davidson was on “The Stretch” podcast on Barstool Chicago episode that posted yesterday. They talked about a wide range of topics for over an hour. Here’s the video if you want to give it a watch/listen. I think we can safely assume Sam Rinzel will be back in the Blackhawks’ lineup tonight now that there are only six healthy defensemen on the NHL roster. Unless Sam Lafferty dresses as a defenseman… don’t laugh. He played defense for Jeff Blashill at a World Championship in the past and has practiced on the back end. Lafferty might be your emergency defenseman in Winnipeg if Rinzel is still under the weather. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported the Blackhawks had a scout at the Flyers-Leafs game last night. Let’s talk a little about the elephant in the room for Blackhawks fans right now: André Burakovsky. The Blackhawks’ coaches want him to keep pushing thru the funk because there are some underlying numbers that aren’t as bad. The eye test isn’t nearly as kind as those metrics, though. Since January 1 (20 games for Burakovsky), the only forward on the Blackhawks who has been on the ice for more 5-on-5 goals against is Ryan Greene — who’s playing his first full professional season. With Burakovsky on the ice at even strength over those 20 games (264:10 of ice time according to Natural Stat Trick), the Blackhawks have a 30.43 goals for percentage. That is not good. This is a good read from Ben Pope on Burakovsky’s crisis of confidence — which might be the biggest problem for him and the team right now.Jeff Blashill clearly believes in Andre Burakovsky.But Burakovsky's belief in himself has been shaken by an ongoing slump."You start doubting yourself a little bit and confidence is going down and it becomes harder to play."New Blackhawks story: t.co/lz7yl7r1K1
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 2, 2026 The Minnesota Wild claimed forward Robby Fabbri off waivers.BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter
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