Blackhawks News: Three minor moves made on off day
By Eric Treuden
The Chicago Blackhawks have moved on from three prospects. It’s been a busy one in the Blackhawks world on Wednesday’s off day.
Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson has not been at the helm for very long, but he spent the first half of the day wheeling and dealing, making three separate trades involving prospects that haven’t panned out.
Each of Nicolas Beaudin, Evan Barratt and Riley McKay were sent packing in minor deals. Both the Beaudin and McKay deals saw the two young players sent home; Beaudin to Montreal and Barratt to Philadelphia.
What to think of the Blackhawks moves
To start things off, Riley McKay was shipped from the Rockford IceHogs (an affiliate of the Blackhawks) to the Rocket de Laval (an affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens).
McKay, 23, split his time between Rockford and the Indy Fuel of the ECHL over the past two years, including the beginning of the current campaign. He managed to score just one point in 16 games for the IceHogs before his being dealt.
Beaudin, also 23, was dealt to the Canadiens in a separate deal from the McKay one in exchange for center Cameron Hillis. Beaudin has 22 NHL games under his belt but has just six points on two goals and four assists, all coming over the course of a 19-game stretch last season in Chicago.
Beaudin is a former first-round pick of the Blackhawks back in 2018 so the talent is there, it just seems that the team is more confident in other internal options on the defensive side of things.
Finally, Barratt, a 23-year-old center, was sent to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenseman Cooper Zech. Barratt is expected to report to the Flyers’ Lehigh Valley affiliate of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Barratt was selected in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Blackhawks and joined the Rockford IceHogs after finishing his collegiate career at Penn State. Across 90 games in parts of three seasons in the Blackhawks farm system, Barratt scored 42 points but was never able to crack the NHL roster.
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