Blackhawks Acquire Ian McCoshen From Florida
As the third period started at the United Center the Blackhawks announced a trade.
Chicago acquired defenseman Ian McCoshen from the Florida Panthers in exchange for forward Aleksi Saarela.
McCoshen, 24, is listed at 6-3 and 218 pounds. Originally the 31st overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft he has appeared in 60 career NHL games. His contract is a two-way deal with an AAV of $700,000 that ends at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season.
He will report to Rockford.
Aleksi Saarela, 22, was acquired from the Hurricanes with Calvin de Haan in the deal that sent Gustav Forsling and Anton Forsberg to Carolina. His younger brother Antti was a fourth round pick by the Hawks in the 2019 NHL Draft.
Kinda surprising with as good of a camp he had, they gave up on him so quick.l
I’m wondering if he was sulking in Rockford. He pumped in 30 goals there last year and won a Calder Cup but had done zilch early on in Rockford.
McCoshen was drafted the same year as Carl Dahlstrom and in the same round (2nd), so perhaps Stan was looking to replace him after we lost Dahlstrom on waivers.
I wonder if this could be like a Laurent Dauphin type thing. Had him for a bit and found out quickly he just wasn’t going to be a fit. Maybe decided he was a product of the system. We knew he was rather one dimensional. If this was a trade for a right shot D it would make more sense.
Also wonder if something was on the table previously and then Connor Murphy went down. They say a couple weeks. Coincidence?
My guess is Saarela was not happy to be sent down, don’t blame him, Hawks gave him no chance to make the team. All we need are more D men….we have a log jam of that already. Another poor move by our GM.