Ranking Kyle Davidson's Top 10 Trades As Blackhawks GM

The stains on the Blackhawks organization have tainted fans’ perspectives.

From Hockey Operations intern to the man-in-charge, Kyle Davidson was there through it all. His 15 years with the team have been filled with extreme highs and extreme lows. It all went downhill after the three championships. There were early playoff exits, a shameful scandal, ridiculous coaching hires, and too many goodbyes to Blackhawks legends.

Loyal fans have the town hall meeting engrained in their brain. What kind of business, much less a sports team representing an entire city, handles a public appearance that poorly?

Davidson has been around, but his hiring in 2021 (made permanent in 2022) was a new chapter. He was not Stan Bowman’s yes man. He was not the old regime.

After 3 years of losing, constant roster turnover, and a billion draft picks, many fans have already given up on him. Has he been perfect? Of course not. But he took a broken organization, an underachieving and old roster, a barren prospect pool, and he turned the ship around. Hockey rebuilds take time. More time than the other major sports. The majority of prospects don’t sniff the NHL for at least a couple years after being drafted.

Kyle Davidson has done a great job so far. The books are cleared out for the future with only 3 players (Tyler Bertuzzi, Ryan Donato, Alex Vlasic) under contract past the 2026-2027 season. The prospect pool was completely replenished. The culture should hopefully take a step in the right direction with a professional coach like Jeff Blashill taking the reigns.

Yes, there was some lottery luck involved. But trades have been the main vehicle for reshaping this team over the last 3 years, and his track record gets me excited for any trades that may come to fruition this offseason.

Let’s take a look at Davidson’s Top 10 trades to this point:

1) July 7, 2022 - Canadiens (Draft Night)

OUT: Kirby Dach

IN: 2022 1st (Frank Nazar), 2022 3rd (Gavin Hayes)

Davidson refused to enter a full-scale rebuild without any 1st round draft picks. He went from 0 to 3 in a hurry in the middle of the chaotic draft floor.

Dach was the Jonathan Toews protege we all dreamed of when selected at #3 overall in 2019. He was supposed to be a big, forceful, two-way center who could learn under Toews, but his career never took off. His 3 seasons in Chicago were full of injuries, and he never looked the part, compiling just 59 points in 152 games. Getting someone to believe in Dach as a reclamation project AND turning the 1st round pick into future superstar Frank Nazar is Davidson's biggest win to date.

2) March 1, 2025 - Panthers

OUT: Seth Jones, 2026 4th

IN: Spencer Knight, 2026 1st

Bonus points for boss-mode on this one. Anyone else ever pulled off a surgical move while on the operating table themselves?

Seth Jones was a sunk cost as soon as the 2021-2022 Hawks started the season 1-9-2. The wishful push to contention by Stan Bowman was a pipedream, and he happened to step down during that painful start to the season. A rebuild was necessary, and Jones didn't want any part of it. Only retaining $2.5M of Jones' contract for 5 more full seasons was a steal, and Davidson also managed to find his goalie of the future. Knight immediately improved the culture and looks like he has a bright future between the pipes.

3) July 7, 2022 - Senators (Draft Night)

OUT: Alex DeBrincat

IN: 2022 1st (Kevin Korchinski), 2022 2nd (Paul Ludwinski), 2024 3rd (AJ Spellacy)

That was a special draft night…To be honest, I loved DeBrincat. Cat and Kane was THE dynamic duo after the dynasty ended and after Bowman shipped out Panarin for no good reason. Trading away a homegrown, 24-year old, 40-goal scorer is not always best practice, but he was the most valuable trade chip at the time. Keeping an elite scorer would have been a fine decision, but letting go of a player who didn't quite fit the philosophy moving forward for significant draft capital was worthwhile.

4) June 26, 2023 - Bruins

OUT: Ian Mitchell, Alec Regula

IN: Nick Foligno, Taylor Hall

I wanted Ian Mitchell to be good. We needed him to be good. In the end, Davidson turned 2 AHL-level defensemen into their current captain and an established scorer. Talk about a productive cap dump!

Foligno has been worth every penny since he was acquired. He’s the team dad. The culture setter. The leader. His wisdom and professionalism have been vital for Connor Bedard and the other young players. Hall was supposed to be a top-line staple with Bedard who could share experiences as a 1st overall pick, so the intent was good, but a torn ACL and mishandled communication derailed his time in Chicago.

5) January 5, 2022 - Penguins

OUT: Alex Nylander

IN: Sam Lafferty

Bowman inexplicably targeted Nylander and gave up on Henri Jokiharju to get him in the building. After disappointing in Chicago, Davidson found someone else interested in Nylander’s raw skills. Lafferty, on the other hand, was a speedy, hard-working forward who fit the mold of hockey players Davidson wanted to start bringing to Chicago. Lafferty played very well as a Hawk and had impressive offensive numbers for a typical 3rd/4th liner.

6) October 7, 2022 - Canucks

OUT: Riley Stillman

IN: Jason Dickinson, 2024 2nd (Trade)

The Canucks could not WAIT to get rid of Dickinson’s $2.65M/year salary, and Davidson happily answered the call. Dickinson has stepped up his play on the ice and his vocal leadership off the ice since the trade occurred. He set a career high in points in 2022-2023 (30) only to surpass that number again with 35 points in 2023-2024 (with 22 goals!!!). His offense came alive, and he’s been a steady presence in the middle.

7) July 7, 2022 - Maple Leafs (Draft Night)

OUT: 2022 2nd (Fraser Minten)

IN: Petr Mrazek, 2022 1st (Sam Rinzel)

Why settle for 2 1st round picks when you can have 3? The splashes continued in Davidson’s first draft as GM as he moved back up into the 1st round by taking on Petr Mrazek’s contract. Mrazek had struggled through injuries and was coming off a partial season with the Maple Leafs with an .888 SV% and 3.34 GAA.

The Hawks needed a goalie and found a solid veteran to rely on. Mrazek responded by regaining his old form in 2023-2024 and starting 53 games! And that 1st round pick was used on a “project” defenseman who already may be in line for the top pairing moving forward. Rinzel’s development went as well as Davidson could have imagined as his size, skating, and overall hockey IQ all came together to accelerate him to the NHL.

8) February 27, 2023 - Maple Leafs

OUT: Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty, 2024 5th (Colton Roberts), 2025 5th

IN: Joey Anderson, Pavel Gogolev, 2025 1st, 2026 2nd

The Hawks unloaded multi-year contracts and landed yet another 1st round pick. McCabe was a solid, physical defender who just didn’t have a role in the team’s future, and Lafferty was outperforming his role as a bottom 6 winger. Those are the exact player types you part with to obtain draft capital. We’ll see who they land at #25 in this draft!

9) June 26, 2024 - Canucks

OUT: 2027 4th

IN: Ilya Mikheyev, Sam Lafferty (Rights), 2027 2nd

This was the Jason Dickinson trade 2.0 as Davidson took on another unwanted contract to add a 2nd round pick to his arsenal. Mikheyev’s speed was the selling point even though he looked a step slower after his ACL injury. As he gained his footing in Chicago, he steadily improved and ended up being one of the most productive forwards on the Hawks last season (20g/14a).

10) February 22, 2023 - Senators

OUT: Future Considerations

IN: Nikita Zaitsev, 2023 2nd (Roman Kantserov), 2026 4th

Free draft picks! Zaitsev was…more of a 7th defenseman who is now playing in Russia. But Roman Kantserov is an exciting prospect!!

Honorable Mentions

March 18, 2022 - Lightning

OUT: Brandon Hagel, 2022 4th (Trade), 2024 4th (Trade)

IN: Taylor Raddysh, Boris Katchouk, 2023 1st (Oliver Moore), 2024 1st (Sacha Boisvert)

March 21, 2022 - Wild

OUT: Marc-Andre Fleury

IN: 2022 2nd (Ryan Greene)

June 29, 2023 - Islanders

OUT: Future Considerations

IN: Josh Bailey, 2026 2nd

Kyle Davidson has a convincing trade history. He seeks out value and clearly has an eye for talent. Trust his next moves this offseason as the Blackhawks start climbing the hill towards contention.