Trade underway for the Chicago Blackhawks and three players are named to be gone

Over the past years, Kyle Davidson has built an impressive prospect pool, with enough players to build a contending core.

Taking that road takes time. Players must develop and grow in order to get to that level.

At this point of the rebuild, some players are expected to show more, and as we saw at the end of the 2024-25 season, some are ready for it: Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Sam Rinzel, Ethan Del Mastro, Oliver Moore, Artyom Levshunov all appear poised to have a breakout season in the near future.

Making room on the lineup for all these players to develop, although some will start in the AHL, will be crucial for Kyle Davidson.

It appears evident that some moves will happen in Chicago before the 2026 trade deadline involving veterans to open up roster spots.

In a new report, three veterans were targeted as interesting trade assets: Connor Murphy, Sam Lafferty, and Jason Dickinson.

The 32-year-old right-handed defenseman has been involved in a lot of trade speculation over the years, but with the Hawks trading away Seth Jones to the Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, at the last trade deadline, and with another year on his cap-friendly $4.4M AAV deal, keeping him for the final part of the season made sense.

Just like it makes sense for the Hawks to trade him before or during the season. A contending team dealing with cap restrictions could be ready to pay a high price to get him.

Last season, he scored 19 points, including two goals, in 68 games with the Hawks.

While Lafferty was just recently acquired by the Hawks earlier in the offseason and the team would benefit from his experience and leadership, Davidson could consider moving him at a young player's expense.

Like Murphy, he could be coveted if he were to be made available on the trade market.

The 30-year-old center scored seven points in 60 games with the struggling Buffalo Sabres last season.

Unless Davidson acquires a top center on the market, trading two centers before Anton Frondell's arrival would be surprising to see.

However, Jason Dickinson remains an interesting asset for the Hawks.

His reliability could be enticing for teams looking to add a player who can play anywhere in the lineup. He is also entering the final season of his $4,250,000 AAV contract.

It'll be interesting to see what changes Davidson makes to the roster ahead of the opening night. Then, how the young players respond on the ice will dictate what happens.