Blackhawks Trade Andrew Shaw To Montreal

In advance of the NHL Draft, the Blackhawks traded Andrew Shaw to Montreal for 2 2nd-round picks, #39 and #45 overall. Reportedly, Shaw was asking for $4.5 million a year, which, no. Even if the Hawks weren’t in a tough cap situation, Andrew Shaw is not worth that kind of money. If he would have gotten an offer sheet for that much, the Hawks would have gotten a 1st and a 3rd next year, so 2 2nd-round picks now is fine.

For the Blackhawks that would mean a 1st and a 3rd in the 2017 draft. pic.twitter.com/6Xy3dceBBh

— Chief (@BarstoolChief) June 24, 2016

I liked Shaw’s game when he wasn’t taking stupid penalties (seriously, the guy must lead the world in stupid penalties) and I’ve said before that he’s the kind of depth guy every championship team needs, but I’ve also said that Ryan Hartman could be at least a reasonable replacement given the chance and now it looks like he’s going to get it. The only real bummer is that the Hawks gave up Teravainen in the Bickell deal and now won’t be able to re-sign Shaw anyway. Teravainen will be a RFA next year, which is when the Hawks will also have to pay the Bread Man, so there’s no guarantee that Teravainen would have been around after next year anyway, but still, Teravainen-Schmaltz-Motte would have been a fun concept this year. Oh well. Did the Kruger deal help the Hawks here? Probably not, but even if Kruger wasn’t going to get $3M+ a year, Shaw’s not worth $4.5M. As far as Kruger is concerned, while we’re on the subject, don’t be surprised if you find a blog here detailing his trade sometime this weekend as well. The Hawks re-signed Rasmussen for the year, who could be fine at 4C for significantly less than Kruger makes. What separates Kruger is his ability on the PK. Is that worth $2M to the Hawks? Dunno. We’ll find out.

Twitter: @KSchroeder_312

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com