The Chicago Blackhawks and Carolina Hurricanes have been linked together in trade talks for some time now. The Hurricanes have a handful of quality defensemen, and the Blackhawks have been attempting to pry one away for over a year now. That’s why it’s no surprise that Jay Zawaski of 670 the Score reported the Blackhawks have Calvin de Haan on their radar.
Stan Bowman and the front office have reached out about the availability of Carolina’s defensemen multiple times. A few weeks ago, Scott Powers of The Athletic reported that the Blackhawks had interest in Justin Faulk, Calvin de Haan, and Dougie Hamilton. Even after the trade for Olli Maatta, adding a top-four defenseman remains a priority for the ‘Hawks. Carolina didn’t take the last offer seriously though, as the Blackhawks reportedly only offered secondary forwards.
Calvin de Haan’s Abilities
Calvin de Haan, 28, is the type of defenseman the Blackhawks could use on the left side. de Haan may not provide much offense, but he’s superb at preventing rushes and exiting the defensive zone. He’s a 6-foot-1, 200-pound defenseman that is physical and can play 18-20 minutes per game. Last season de Haan played alongside Justin Faulk on Carolina’s shutdown pairing and had a lot of success. de Haan had career-high Corsi and Fenwick percentages, while also posting a career-high in hits with 187. He has three years left on his current contract with a $4.55M cap hit.
Last offseason Carolina signed de Haan as an unrestricted free agent. There were rumors that the Blackhawks were interested in signing him, but it didn’t work out. The Blackhawks have had their eyes on Calvin de Haan for over a year now.
With the current state of the Blackhawks, it appears that they could only add a defenseman via trade. They have eight defensemen that played at the NHL level last season, and that doesn’t include Gustav Forsling. Forsling has already received his qualifying offer from the Blackhawks, so he’s expected to return.
Trading for a defenseman like Calvin de Haan could make sense, but it would have to take a serious offer. Carolina has been interested in Brandon Saad in the past, but the Blackhawks have been reluctant to move him. If the Blackhawks want to add a top-four defenseman, it might have to cost them a top-six forward.
It will be interesting to see if the Blackhawks make another trade for a defenseman this offseason.
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