Blackhawks Acquire 3 Players from Panthers for Carlsson, Wallmark
The NHL’s trade deadline isn’t until Tuesday, but the Blackhawks have already made a move.
On Thursday the Hawks traded defenseman Lucas Carlsson and forward Lucas Wallmark to the Panthers for forward Brett Connolly, defenseman Riley Stillman, and center Henrik Borgstrom. Chicago also receives a seventh round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.
For Chicago, Borgstrom is likely the key to the deal. The 23rd overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Borgstrom is a big center (6-3, 200) who is currently playing in Finland for HIFK Helsinki. He’s a left-handed shot who has 11 goals in 27 games this season.
Borgstrom has appeared in 58 NHL games for the Panthers, scoring nine goals with 10 assists. He played his college hockey at the University of Denver, where he was a teammate of Ian Mitchell’s in 2017-18. Coming out of DU, Borgstrom was a highly touted offensive threat. But he never translated that into the NHL. He is currently unsigned by the Panthers. He will turn 24 in early August.
Connolly, 28, was the sixth overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft by the Lightning. A right wing listed at 6-3 and 198 pounds, he has two goals and two assists in 21 games for the Panthers this season. In 517 regular season games in the NHL, Connolly has scored 100 goals with 92 assists. His best season was 2018-19 with the Capitals; he scored 22 goals with 24 assists.
Connolly has two more years on his contract after the 2021 season that carry a $3.5M cap hit.
Stillman, 23, was originally drafted in the fourth round (#114 overall) in the 2016 NHL Draft. He has appeared in 43 NHL games over three seasons, picking up five assists along the way. He’s a left-handed shot who is listed at 6-1 and 196 pounds. Stillman is a RFA after this season and has a $773,333 cap hit.
Sounds interesting – Hawks are not really giving up much for more prospects in return
I suppose the panthers think Carlsson can step in to their line up otherwise why trade Stillman for him – for Carlsson’s sake be nice to see him get a shot
Borgstrom seems like a reasonable bet with decent upside (3C one day?) with minimal cost because Stan took on Connolly who may turn out to be useful himself – we’ll see
I guess the Hawks have to sign Borgstrom yet? Not sure where that is at
Seems like a good use of CHI cap space if Borgstrom comes over
It will be interesting to see if they can get the seed to come over next year on a PTO, if not, at least they got Connolly who is a big winger with tons of NHL experience, so….who will he replace ? With a move like this, my guess is Vinnie will be back in the taxi squad unless Janmark and Soderberg getoved as well, then Vinnie clean slot in and perhaps give Hardmen a game or two for a short looksy.
I like this trade. We essentially gave up $3.5m of cap space for an intriguing 23 year old big center prospect, a depth d-man with a little more size and grit and a 7th round pick. Borgstrom was a stud at DU with monster numbers when they won the NCAA championship. While Connelly is no Janmark he is a veteran who can slide in if Janmark gets moved for a pick.
Hold up….$3.5 million for the next TWO years? If you look at cap friendly and play around with what their situation will look like over the next two years…..I don’t see how they pay Suter’s next contract this offseason AND have money to resign Kubalik after next season while carrying this contract.
Losing either of those two guys would make this a much less attractive deal. Unless Stan is already planning on giving the farm to seattle to take Seabs contract, but then that would cost a boatload too.
Carlson will be a Very nice addition for Q
I really think he didn’t had a chance with the Hawks and I also think it’s a mistake to let him go for nothing in return ( not sure Borqstrom will come to Chicago}
Overall it’s a average trade with a big impact immediately for Panthers.
Good move by Q
The 7 rd pick will just be good ( give back )) for the pick they gain last year from Montreal .
Must see something in Borgstrom, hopefully another hidden gem. For those keeping score in expansion all 3 are eligible from years played and Borgstrom as an unsigned rfa should be as well, so protection consideration needed. Connelly has enough games if not protected to meet team compliancy needs, Stillman needs 11 more games to meet teams compliancy and of Course Borgstrom not playing is eligible but not in compliancy conversation.
I’d rather keep Carlsson and Wallmark…
With Zadorov needing a 3.2m qo, wonder how Stillman acquisition will affect his resigning. Both play similar type games and left shots. Would think with Connelly and Hatdman additions, this is first move not the last.
Bowman loves former 1st Round Draft picks and not a very good track record with them.
Hopefully, what’s in the bottle matches with what’s on the label matches with Borgstrom (23rd overall pick in the 2016 ) and Connolly (sixth overall pick in the 2010).
Pretty sure than when Stan traded for Kubalik he was unsigned as well and Stan was able to sign and get him to come over – hopefully the same happens with Borgstrom
To think that Borgstrom might not want to play in the NHL is silly. He played at DU and played parts of a few seasons with the Panthers and their AHL team. He was drafted by Tallon who was subsequently let go. It is not unusual for the new GM to not be too tied to the former GM’s picks. I’m not saying he is a slam dunk to make it but I do believe it is a slam dunk that he will sign.
Zadorov a rfa who needs 3.2m qo, with arbitration rights. Riley Stillman a rfa who needs a $825,000 qo, with no arbitration rights for another year. Makes you wonder.
Hopefully Borgstrom signs and comes to camp in fall, he apparently wasn’t happy at all with how his development was handled in Florida/Springfield, not the first or only casualty of Panthers in that regard. Bowman and Blackhawks have a good reputation among european players so frel pretty sure he’ll cone over.
Well they got a little size out of it, maybe StanBo thinks he can outsmart Zito. Other than that: Meh.
Taking on 2nd contract to get something and using Carlsson to get good prospect FW. Theres one of the Defenesemen for FW moves we ll be making at different points along the way.
Lots of moves to make before the 23 season for when were really ready for playoff hockey.
Load young wave! When ready add elite ufa players.
The upside is we would have lost Carlson for nothing in the expansion draft. They would have chosen between DeHaan and Carlson and no way an expansion team doesn’t take the young guy with upside over the oft injured vet.
Whether or not the Cy-Borg becomes a good player for the Hawks or not will determine if this was a good use of cap space / young surplus dman.
Connelly money not insignificant, there needs to be a corresponding move to open up cap space or we are going to have to lose a good player to keep that contract on the books for two years.
Not upset. Not excited. Just sort’ve meh
Haven’t done the cap gymnastics myself but from what I’ve read in past about Hawks taking on bad contracts they shouldn’t have a problem signing their own players because they have Connolly on the books for 2 more years
Borgstrom possible next seasons #2 Center with Dach#1 and Barratt #3. Connolly is maybe Seattle bound and Stillman is the sub for Dehaans departure with Janmark and Soderberg closely behind or with him.
Wrap all kinds of capspace, shouldn’ t be an issue next year and banks some space for Kane’s next contract the following year. With Toews, Kane, Kub, Cat, Strome, Shaw, Connelly, Dach, Kurashev, Carpenter, Keith, Seabrook, Murphy, Boqvist, Mitchell, Beaudin, Kalynuk, Lankinen and Subban that’s about 66.5m and roughly 15m to sign Zadorov, Hagel, Suter, Kanpf and Nylander before using ltir space which could give them ability to exceed cap on opening day by 6.875m (Seabroks hit) if they want to, now he’s retired and use Shaw’s likely for in season room.
Tim – colour me surprised if CDH gets moved at TDL but I would be happy if he did
Thanks Ian – that’s what I thought without digging into all the numbers
Probably makes the protected list for expansion draft look like:
Fwds. Toews, Kane, Cat, Strome, Nylander, Hagel and Borgstrom.
Defense. Keith, Murphy and Zadorov
Goalie: Lankinen
Eligible for Seattle Kampf, Carpenter, Highmore, Connelly, Shaw, Dehaan, Bowey, Stillman, Lindholm, Subban and Delia. All meet teams compliancy needs except Shaw, Lindholm and Stilman who still could.
Borgstrom is somebody likely Panthers couldn’t protect and Seattle likely to draft type of player. May be a very solid move when all said and done.
I hate that we gave up Carlsson, but we were going to lose him to Seattle in the expansion draft anyways. I was living in DC and watched Connolly play almost every game for the Caps. The kid can play, he just needs a center who can get him the puck. He has great wheels too!!
I like the move as long as they can sign Borgstrom.
I don’t know much about Stillman but the ‘hockey heads’ on Sirius liked him quite a bit as a possible future piece.
Hearing that some folks in FL are disappointed about losing Stillman… Don’t know much about him? Maybe he’s a dark horse in this deal? Has some size and grit…?
Cap for crap (hope not, but it rhymed…whatever).
Given Stan’s affinity for former first-round reclamation projects I don’t know if he is serious about Connolly or it’s strictly a cap thing. As for Borgstrom, I checked and he played 50 games for them in 2018-19 but only 4 the next year and now back in Finland so no idea what went on with him. It made me think of Viktor Ejdsell but hopefully this guy has more game.
I like the idea of bringing in former first round draft picks, but it would be nice to get one that doesn’t look like a reclamation project, or if so, couple it with a better draft pick than 7th round.
Not sure how I feel about this move yet. I like the size the Hawks are bringing on, but I am not sure how any of these guys are going to fit in the teams long term plans. If Borgstrom ends up a top six, 20+ goals, 60 point guy in a couple years, that’s great. If he becomes another bottom six depth guy, it’s a lot less exciting to me. Also read he was in Q’s doghouse before getting sent down to the minors where he did not respond that well. Is that why he is playing overseas right now? When will he be in a Hawks uniform?
@Miroslav
Q’s Dog house is the size of a medieval castle… There’s too many players to list here that have been or are still in his dog house. LOL!
BHG-
The problem is how many guys that went into Q’s doghouse amounted to anything anywhere else? He is a pretty good judge of talent. When everyone thought Morin and Pirri would be the next coming of Gretzky and Kurri, Q figured out pretty quick those guys were tweener AHL/NHL guys.
Hopefully he was wrong on this guy and he ends up more like the Jan Rutta / Kempny type guys that had some modest success after leaving. But no one went on to be all that great.
not a big fan of this trade as it looks currently..Riley Stillman feels like a 7th defenseman at best so there isn’t much upside there. Connolly will need to be either traded at next year’s deadline, or bought out for the last year of his deal since the Hawks will need every dollar of cap space in the Summer of 22-23. Here’s hoping Seattle drafts Connolly or the Hawks give them a 5th rounder to take him. Then I would be a fan of this deal. But right now, I don’t think it’s a smart move to add salary beyond next year. Which leaves Borgstrom. He’s an intriguing player and the reports are that he was a late addition to this trade, in place of a higher draft pick. So perhaps the Euro scouts said they would prefer Borgstrom to a pick..I’ll certainly trust them-their record speaks for itself..if he can play a competent 3c for us, then this trade is a win. A lot will depend on how he looks. If the Hawks are able to move on from Connolly, even if it requires giving a pick to Seattle, then I’ll consider the trade successful..it would be essentially Carlsson and a 5th, let’s say, for Borgstrom, Stillman, and a 7th..that is a trade that I can work with..but right now, not pleased with the extra year of salary for Connolly and the fact that Stillman is exposed to Seattle, and the fact that in order to protect Borgstrom, Kampf is now exposed to Seattle as well..give a pick to Seattle for Connolly and it will kill two birds..his salary is gone and you can keep Kampf and Stillman..
Does anyone know how good Borgstrom is at the DOT?
Hopefully Borgstrom is not Victor Edjsell 2.0. He was a complete and total bust and Bowman had a hard on for him. Time will tell.
I remember seeing Denver play 2 or 3 times and was impressed with Borgstrom. Saw him score a couple highlight reel goals. That was the draft year we didn’t have a 1st rounder and our first pick was in the second round at #39 where we took DCat – which worked out pretty good. But as I was watching the draft show I was hoping Borgstrom would fall out of the 1st round and the Hawks get a shot at taking him. Obviously it didn’t work out that way and obviously all Hawks fans are happy it didn’t – but, I’m excited to get Borgstrom and even though he hasn’t turned out to be a slam dunk NHL’er like I thought he would 5 years ago – he has size and skill and in my opinion is worth spending Carlsson on the chance he could be a part of our new core group which Carlsson probably wasn’t going to be.
Toot70 in very small Nhl sample offew hundred fos his % is nit very good under 42%. Sounds lime this guy shod be ewal deal though, not another Edjsell.
Sorry sounds like this guy should be real deal though.
Great!!
Can we now change the name and logo of the Rockford team
Yikes!!!
Saw some video of Borgstron in Finland, he has intriguing skills to go with his size. Whether that translates to NHL is the question, but for what they gave up, I like the return and this deal’s potential.
the way i look at it there were two trades.
1) carlsson for borgstrom. a flyer for both teams. good trade for hawks. worth the gamble at a position where they need help and carlsson likely no future with the hawks.
2) connolly and his bad contract for two more years, stillman, and a 7th pick for wallmark. lousy. won’t connolly type guys be available the next two years on one year contracts for much less money?
every bad contract makes a difference in a hard cap league. stan should have drawn a line in the sand. no connolly or no trade.
This game was expected. We were due for an awful game with nothing going our way. I have us finishing 6-9 or 7-8 the best. Does 55 points get us in? I think not. So if anyone ask for Janmark or Soderberg take it. One more year like this then we should be contenders in 22/23 definitely 23/24.
Also do we blame Boqvist for any goals? Forgot how many just point one way. Keith was brutal! Don’t want to break up Murphy and Z but gotta put a defensive Dman with Keith. Let’s go with
1/2 pair. deHaan Keith
1/2 pair. Boqvist Kalynuk could be future pair
3 pair Murphy Z
Put your otb bets in for the horse race it takes half a day to post.
4 seed
NAS 4
DAL 0
CHI 0
CLB 4
How much cap space is left ? Hopefully stan lands some more draft picks
was Keith on the ice for all 5 goals? lmao
we will see other move from Stan in the last 4 days …probably players that just came in will leave without playing a game with the Hawks.
What we need to get now :::::: a second rd pick and maybe 1-2 third or fourth rd pick then we will have the opportunity to move up in the draft.
Or 1-2 prospect like Regula
billy reay, dun “Can’t play Def” Keith was on the ice for all six goals, premadonna scared to hit and get hit. Seabrook made sure he was protected. Once Seabrook was off the ice, Keith went in a tailspin to what we see today. And yes, Keith was a top DEF but now should be a 3rd liner. He and Kalynuk should switch roles.
Here is my take, Keith, DeHaan and Zadorov are all marginal 2nd line DEF but are very good 3rd Line Def. The problem, each one brings something different and we only need one. I hope they trade Zadorov either now, to Seattle or at the draft but certainly don’t resign him. DeHaan hope he gets picked up by Seattle or traded but my guess is we end up eating his last year and let me fly away.
I have been really supportive of Stan B in the past, the one area I shake my head at is not understanding the players he is trading for and giving away. I dont blame him for TT/Bickell or any of the other ones including Danualt. The ones that do are trading for Maata and DeHaan even though we gave up nothing to get both or reacq shaw when we knew his history.
I do like both trades with FLA and hope Borg can become a 2/3 line center behind Dach/Towes/Strome. My first reaction getting Borg is, does that mean Toews may not return to the ice ever. But I heard later was Stan was looking for a pick but FLA gave up Borg instead. What does that tell us about Toews and or one of the scouts says instead of the pick see if you can squeeze them for Borg or somehting like that.
Lastly, Connolly salary is no big deal because I get the sense both Shaw and Toews are out longer tahn this year and may never skate again for the Hawks like Seabs. Time will tell but from my perspective, the Hawks are adding quite a nice array of talent, let’s see who puts it together and if they can compete in 2022/23 for a longer run at the cup.
We are not going to have any problems with cap space. Bowman can move players around and make it work.
The goal for the tradeline and summer is to take on salary and get free players by doing so. Exactly what we want. More like his.
This.
WRAPAROUND
April 8, 2021 at 12:46 pm
Pretty sure than when Stan traded for Kubalik he was unsigned as well and Stan was able to sign and get him to come over – hopefully the same happens with Borgstrom
Everytime I read/see the name Morin I laugh. We saw him one summer after we drafted him and we won the Cup so we were excited for every prospect and he acted like a little biatch. Looked at him friend and smirked like a snooty.
On another yr later then that after we drafted Schmaltz we saw him with his brother at restaurant and he was sincerely concerned for Kaner when those rumors were going around.
That guy Schmaltz is a true character dude.
Where Morin is a flatlander.
Black and White. Night and Day.
What is JC gonna do with Stillman? Another LHD playing the right side? At least Carlsson played the system for 2+ years yet when given his chance was put on his off side. Makes no sense but maybe Carlsson will get a legit shot now.