Chicago Blackhawks make an outstanding trade with Vancouveron April 12, 2021 at 4:54 pm

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VANCOUVER, BC - MARCH 04: Jake Virtanen #18 of the Vancouver Canucks celebrates his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs with teammates Adam Gaudette #96 and Nils Hoglander #36 during NHL hockey action at Rogers Arena on March 4, 2021 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BC – MARCH 04: Jake Virtanen #18 of the Vancouver Canucks celebrates his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs with teammates Adam Gaudette #96 and Nils Hoglander #36 during NHL hockey action at Rogers Arena on March 4, 2021 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks have been busy so far this trade season. They made two trades with the Florida Panthers that they did very well in. Instead of selling off the free agents on the team, they have only (so far) made trades that somewhat came out of nowhere. The latest one came today (deadline day) when they sent Matthew Highmore to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Adam Gaudette. This is a very good trade for the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Chicago Blackhawks did very well in this trade with the Vancouver Canucks.

The Chicago Blackhawks saw some nice improvement from Matthew Highmore but he is a guy that has a ceiling as a fourth-liner. Gaudette isn’t too far off but he has shown the ability to chip in a fair amount of offense. Highmore feels like a guy who could be up and down from the NHL to AHL every year.

As for Gaudette, he is going to come in and be in the team’s bottom-six right away and stay there. He is 24 years old with a lot of upsides. So far this season on a bad Canucks team, he has four goals and three assists for seven points in 33 games played. It is a bit of a down year for sure but he had 12 goals and 21 assists for 33 points in 59 games played last season. All of those numbers are career highs. If he can bring that level of offense to this Blackhawks team, they will be ready to roll.

Gaudette comes from Northeastern University. There, he won the 2018 Hobey Baker Award as the best player in the country. He led the NCAA with 30 goals and 60 points. His 1.62 points per game also led the nation during the 2017-18 season. It was a great year for him as he tried to elevate himself to the National Hockey League.

This is a great player for the Hawks to bring in for Highmore. He has a good amount of upside as this team tries to get younger in all areas. Highmore isn’t old or anything but he doesn’t have a pure skill that Gaudette has.

Related Story: The Blackhawks owned the Panthers in a trade

There might be a few more trades that the Blackhawks make in order to make room for roster spots. This team is moving in a new direction as it tries to get younger while remaining competitive. It will be interesting to see if Mattias Janmark, Carl Soderberg, or Calvin de Haan make it through the day as Blackhawks. For now, be happy with Gaudette because this was a great trade.

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