Chicago Blackhawks: Trading Dylan Strome would be an awful move
According to Elliotte Friedman, the Chicago Blackhawks will likely make center Dylan Strome available this offseason. Trading him would be a very unwise decision.
The Chicago Blackhawks season is currently on hold thanks to the novel coronavirus pandemic. There’s a good chance they won’t play another game this season (or postseason, for that matter). After failing to make the playoffs, they’ll likely make some moves this summer. One of those moves, according to Elliotte Friedman, could be trading center Dylan Strome.
Strome will be a restricted free agent. And after posting 29 goals and 89 points in his last 116 games with the Blackhawks, it’s likely he’ll be getting a fairly substantial raise. Furthermore, the Hawks really like Kirby Dach, who put up 23 points in 62 games in his rookie season.
Currently, the Blackhawks are projected to have just under $10 million of cap space with 18 players signed going into this offseason. However, several players (including Strome) might have hit their bonuses, which would affect their cap space for next season since they only have about $172,000 of cap space this season.
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In a recent interview with WGR 550 in Buffalo, Friedman had this to say about the Blackhawks center and a potential trade with the Sabres.
"That could happen… that’s a possibility. I think he’d be available… I don’t think the cost is particularly prohibitive"
Friedman also mentions that the Blackhawks were considering giving Strome a fresh start earlier in the 2019-20 season. However, nothing materialized to their liking.
Trading Strome Would Be Bad For The Blackhawks
Strome is a solid player who can be quite productive. At the very least, he’s a very capable top-nine forward and with the right players, has proven to be a viable top-six forward. Since joining the Blackhawks, Strome ranks fifth among their forwards in 5v5 points per hour with 2.28.
Dach had a nice rookie season, but he’s not yet ready to be a true second-line center like Strome is. And Strome has experience at the wing as well, so he could always move there if Dach proves himself deserving of sticking down the middle.
Furthermore, the Blackhawks have had trouble finding a quality second-line center to put behind Jonathan Toews since they last won the Stanley Cup in 2015. Brad Richards was a nice addition that season, but since then, they’ve struggled to find a consistent second-line center.
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Strome has proven to be a nice option on the second-line, as he has finally turned the corner and has looked like the high draft pick that he was back in 2015. The Blackhawks traded Nick Schmaltz for Strome, so they gave up quite a bit to get him. Trading him now would make very little sense for the Blackhawks unless they get a huge return for him.