Chicago Blackhawks look like early winners in big deadline deal

The Chicago Blackhawks front office swung a couple of significant trades before the deadline this season while keeping an important veteran that most thought they would move off. Ryan Donato remained with the franchise after the deadline after it was reported that Chicago did not receive a higher offer than a third-round draft choice for his services.

Taylor Hall was shipped to Carolina in a three-team deal back in January that involved Mikko Rantanen going to the Hurricanes and Martin Necas to the Avalanche. Chicago got their own third round pick in 2025 as the return for Hall, but it was the next big trade that truly shook up the organization in a major way.

Veteran defenseman and Alternate Captain Seth Jones was dealt to the Florida Panthers less than a week before the deadline. The Blackhawks front office got an eye-popping return for Jones in young netminder Spencer Knight and a future first-round pick. To make matters even better for Chicago, they only have to pay $2.5 million of Jones’ $9.5 million dollar salary moving forward.

Jones had been consistent piece in the Blackhawks’ defensive plans throughout his time in the Windy City, but his play to begin his tenure in Florida shows that Chicago might be better off down the road.

The Chicago Blackhawks have won the Seth Jones deal so far

Jones hasn’t been as productive as the Panthers would have liked him to be so far on either end of the ice. On the defensive side, things have not been pretty for the veteran in five on five play.

The Florida Panthers have been outscored 6-1 with Seth Jones on the ice in 5v5 in his first seven games. He has a 41.61 expected goals percentage.

— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) March 17, 2025

The 30-year-old was originally the second right-shot defenseman upon his arrival in Florida, but that quickly changed after Aaron Ekblad was suspended for 20 games  for violating the league’s PED policy. Jones being elevated to the top pairing has certainly hurt the Panthers more than it has helped them, which makes the trade look even stronger for the Blackhawks.

The departure of Jones has allowed for defensemen of the future to come up and get plenty of NHL ice time on a more consistent basis. Wyatt Kaiser has been playing some of his best hockey over the past few weeks and Ethan Del Mastro has been drawing into the lineup every game which is great to see. Most notably, the call-up of last year’s number two overall pick, Artyom Levshunov, was the biggest move made by the front office due to the Jones trade.

All of the Chicago Blackhawks draft capital can be used differently

With this deal, the Blackhawks will have held multiple first round picks in every draft spanning from 2022 through 2026. While it is good to have a stockpile of picks when looking to build a roster for the future, something might have to change with Chicago’s draft capital.

The team’s prospect pool is already crowded as it is, and the front office could use their surplus of picks to change that. Kyle Davidson can finally start pushing his chips forward with these assets by dealing them for established NHL pieces that are on the younger side.

They were a potential suitor for Buffalo’s JJ Peterka at the deadline when it was known that the Sabres could look to ship him out. Chicago has more than enough ammo to pursue Peterka or players similar to him this offseason with their assets if they choose to go down that road.