1 Blackhawks player must be traded before the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline

The The Chicago Blackhawks seemed to make some progress this season. And to some extent they are. Goaltender Spencer Knight is fifth in the NHL in WAR among goaltenders, according to Evolving Hockey. Before his injury in mid-December, Connor Bedard has established himself as an MVP candidate. Unfortunately, none of this was enough for Chicago.

The Blackhawks will leave the Olympic break in the NHL with 10 points playoff spots. They trail the San Jose Sharks, the team directly above them in the Wild Card race, by five points. All signs point to the Blackhawks missing the Stanley Cup playoffs once again.

And to be fair, that result wasn’t entirely unexpected this season. New head coach Jeff Blashill is tasked with leading this team to the playoffs. But the expectation was that it could take several seasons. Progress is the main mandate, and Blashill mostly delivers.

in 2026 NHL Trade Deadline is almost upon us, coming around March 6th. This will be Chicago’s last chance to sell off some pieces from its roster and add capital for summer draft picks. Fortunately, they have one trade candidate who could draw interest when the deadline rolls around next month.

The Blackhawks could benefit from trading Andrea Burakovsky

Andre Burakovsky joined the Blackhawks via trade still in the summer. The Seattle Kraken sent the veteran winger to the Windy City in exchange for Joe Whalen. The trade essentially ended up being a freebie for Chicago, since Veleno was bought out by the Kraken shortly after the deal fell through.

Chicago would appreciate a deal either way. Burakowski had a pretty solid season with the Blackhawks. He has already scored from the 2024-25 season. And he is seven points away from his point total. He is currently on pace to finish the season with 46 points, which would be his best point total since 2021-22.

The market this season is quite weak for wingers, especially when it comes to renting them. Burakovsky is not on loan, but at the same time, he is not signed long-term. The 31-year-old Swede has signed a contract until next season at the cap reached $5.5 million.

This is a pretty strong shot, but the Blackhawks have two of their three holding slots available. Seth Jones takes one, but Chicago can retain up to 50% of Burakovsky’s salary to maximize the return in any potential trade.

If Chicago decided to do that, Burakovsky would only count $2.75 million against the cap. This is an amount that many contending teams could fit into their salary cap structure. And that would also put Burakovsky on the table as a really attractive trade candidate.

There are certainly concerns about the veteran winger. For example, he isn’t great defensively and, in fact, leads all Blackhawks forwards in goals allowed per 60 minutes, per Evolving Hockey. Still, the offense is promising, as it has the second-highest expected goal at 60 among Chicago forwards.

The Blackhawks certainly have more obvious trade candidates on the roster. Pending free agent Connor Murphy is one player who stands out. However, Chicago should realize value in the market this year. Andre Burakovsky’s trend may bring the most value of any player the team could realistically trade.