Blackhawks Trade Buzz: Right-Handed Defense Market Taking Shape ...Middle East

We’re going to talk a lot about the NHL Trade Deadline in the coming days as Blackhawks fans. The Hawks figure to be positioned well to take advantage of a seller’s market, and have some intriguing veterans in the final seasons of their respective contracts.

As we get into the knockout stage of the Olympics, trade buzz is starting to pick back up. With the Olympic trade freeze set to expire on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 10:59 PM CT, there could be movement sooner than later as teams look to get guys into their lineups as the sprint to the finish begins next week. And that could mean the Blackhawks’ phones have been busy during the break.

The market for right-handed defensemen is starting to generate more rumors, so let’s take a look at some new intel and what the might mean for the Blackhawks.

RHD Market — Blackhawks Fit

On Tuesday morning, James Murphy at RG Media wrote about the Boston Bruins looking for a top-four right-handed defenseman. He reports the Bruins and Blues have already been talking about a trade for Justin Faulk.

Elliotte Friedman previously reported that the Blues are looking for a Rasmus Andersson-type return for Faulk. The Vegas Golden Knights sent a package of defenseman Zach Whitecloud, prospect Abram Wiebe, a 2027 first-round pick, and a conditional 2028 second-round pick to Calgary for Andersson (with 50 percent of Andersson’s cap hit retained by the Flames).

As I have previously noted, Faulk turns 34 on March 20 and has one additional year left on his current contract that carries a $6.3M cap hit. He’s a very good defensemen, so it makes sense teams would be interested in him with the Blues entering tank mode and appearing ready to sell.

However, this quote from a source in the RG story caught my attention:

“[Bruins general manager Don Sweeney is] not going to sell the future but he has chips in the game right now. Faulk and other guys too.”

There’s only one Faulk. Only one team can acquire him. The next right-handed defenseman in line to be traded could be Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy.

Murphy, who turns 33 on March 26, is in the final year of his contract that carries a $4.4M cap hit.

So which teams might have interest in Murphy? Well, here are the teams RG reports have shown interest in Faulk:

Multiple sources have also confirmed to RG that the Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Dallas Stars, and Utah Mammoth have also expressed interest in Faulk.

Earlier this month, Harman Dayal at The Athletic noted that the Stars trading for a top-four right-handed defenseman “has become an annual trade deadline requirement.” I wrote about the Blackhawks and Stars being potential trade partners on Feb. 7 with Dallas looking for both a right-shot defenseman and a middle-six forward.

One other piece I would encourage Blackhawks fans to read is from Corey Pronman at The Athletic. He wrote about the best young players who potential contenders could make available before the deadline. There’s a good amount of overlap between the players’ teams in Pronman’s piece and the list of teams engaged with the Blues on Faulk reported by James Murphy at RG.

Here are some other right-shot defensemen whose names have been mentioned as being available, listed with their age, cap hit and remaining term on their current contract.

Each of these defensemen bring different skills and cap numbers to the table, even with money retained by their current club. Murphy should be positioned well to be a popular name before the trade deadline with a collection of teams looking to bolster the right side of their blue line.

The 2026 NHL Trade Deadline is set for Friday, March 6, at 2 PM CT.

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