Blockbuster trade completed between the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets on this day in history
Photo credit: NHL.com
On this day in Blackhawks history, they executed arguably the worst trade in modern franchise history by reacquiring Brandon Saad from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for star forward Artemi Panarin.
It's a painful anniversary for fans of the Chicago Blackhawks, as it was on this day in 2017 that they pulled off arguably the worst trade in recent team history.
The Blackhawks traded star winger Artemi Panarin to the Columbus Blue Jackets in return for Brandon Saad, who had previously won the Stanley Cup twice in Chicago but signed with the Blue Jackets in the summer of 2015 because of salary cap restraints.
The full trade was Artemi Panarin, Tyler Motte and a 6th round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft to the Blue Jackets for former Blackhawks forward Brandon Saad, goalie Anton Forsberg, and a 5th round pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
At the time, now-former Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman said that the Blackhawks could still look forward to having an "incredible" core of players that included Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith.
We've still got an incredible core of players here that have accomplished an awful lot together. I think they can get energized by having some of these young guys. We're looking for that spark to achieve even more things down the road.
Change is not always easy, but I think it's necessary and I think we're looking forward.
Change is not always easy, but I think it's necessary and I think we're looking forward.
However, the Blackhawks were truly never the same after the deal. They would miss the postseason altogether in each of the next pair of years before briefly returning to playoff action in the NHL's "bubble" in Edmonton amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Not only that, but Hossa abruptly stopped playing before 2017-18 because of a progressive skin disorder.
Saad played another 3 years for the Blackhawks, putting up 35, 47, and 33 points in each of them. His production was nowhere near enough to replace what was lost by Panarin, who would continue his rise to the status of one of the NHL's best players.
He scored 82 and 87 points in each of his only pair of years in Columbus before he then signed a major 7-year, $81.5 million contract with the New York Rangers in the summer of 2019.
It was one of Bowman's worst fumbles as GM of the Blackhawks, and Chicago is still paying for it to this day at having not figured out a way to keep one of the best young players in the NHL.
Previously on HawksInsider
| POLL | ||
JUIN 23 | 413 ANSWERS Blockbuster trade completed between the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets on this day in history Was the trade of Artemi Panarin for Brandon Saad the worst in Blackhawks history? | ||
| Yes | 278 | 67.3 % |
| No | 135 | 32.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
