NHL Rumors: Chicago Blackhawks, and the Tampa Bay Lightning

Blackhawks pending UFAs Max Domi and Andreas Athanasiou

Ben Pope: Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson on pending UFAs Max Domi and Andreas Athanasiou: “We didn’t sign them just to be traded. We signed them because we liked them as players… It’s a business, so we have to do our due diligence. We’ll see what comes, but nothing planned right now.”

GM Julien BriseBois on the value of Tanner Jeannot compared to all the draft picks they gave up

Chris Krenn: Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julien BriseBose on all the draft picks surrender to trade for Tanner Jeannot.

“At the end of the day, I know there’s a perceived value of those picks, but we have a really good idea of what the actual value of those picks are.

Individually, you can go, ‘What’s that first-round pick worth? What’s the second-round pick?’ And so forth and so on. When we look at what that’s worth to us, based on the odds of those picks turning into good NHL players down the road, I’d rather have the good player right now for this season and next and help this group win right now.

Because I know what the odds are of those picks turning into players. I also know what the odds are of those picks turning into players that can help us win while we have this group of players right now in their prime, ready to go for another long run. The odds of that are zero.

None of those picks were going to help. None of the players we were going to draft with those picks are going to help us win this year, or next, or probably the year after that.

So, when you it into that context and you frame it that way, it ends up being a pretty easy decision actually.”

  • Arpon Basu: “This is philosophically correct in terms of the players they would have drafted. But there is also the reality of what those picks are worth on the market in terms of adding players now, or next year. So the price on Jeannot severely limits their ability to add for a while.”