The Blackhawks kicked off their rebuild with a bang by making a massive trade at the trade deadline. The Blackhawks traded fan favorite Brandon Hagel to the Tampa Bay Lightning for two draft picks along with Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk. Many fans were skeptical of the trade, as they felt that Hagel could have been a key piece of the rebuild. But now that we are a month and some change removed from that trade, lets look and see how that trade looks in the present.
First, we'll take a look at Brandon Hagel. Since the trade, Hagel has played 20 games this second half of the season for Tampa Bay. In this 20 games, he has 6 points with 3 goals and 3 assists. One of those goals coming against the Blackhawks. He definitely hasn't looked nearly as good as he did when he was with the Blackhawks. However, the fact that he went to a much better team put him on a much lower line. So he went from playing with guys like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, to 3rd and 4th liners on the Lightning. And even with the Lightning being such a good team top to bottom, you can't compare their bottom line guys to the Blackhawks top line guys.
Since their arrival, Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk have gotten some pretty good ice time. Raddysh has definitely shown some of the same things that made Brandon Hagel become such a fan favorite. He's played 19 games for the Blackhawks, and he has 10 points in those games. 6 goals and 4 assists. Really can't say enough about how well he has performed. Katchouk hasn't fared as well unfortunately, only tallying one point since becoming a Blackhawk. That lone point being a goal he scored against the Stars.
As sad as Brandon Hagel's departure was for many fans, Taylor Raddysh is doing his best to quickly ease that pain. Based off of his play alone, you could make an argument that the Blackhawks have already won this trade. However that would definitely be a bit premature. If the Blackhawks are able to hit on at least one of the draft picks acquired in the trade, then it won't even be a question of if they won the trade or not. They don't have to go out and get the next Patrick Kane, just someone who is a good fit and that they feel they can start and/or continue their rebuild around.
