It's Official: Stan Bowman Has Actually Done Something Good

This is not an April Fools. I am happy with Stan Bowman on this trade…this is the EXACT deal I didn’t want the Blackhawks to commit to Nick Schmaltz. He is SUPER talented, sky is the limit, and all of that…but he’s a bum. He’s not a winning player. The Blackhawks don’t enough cap space to commit major dollars to a guy like Schmaltz who has a ton of question marks. I loved this trade at the moment Stan made it, but assuming Stan Bowman’s inability to negotiate and the high tax rate working against him…the Hawks probably would’ve needed to pay Schmaltz over $6.5M. And when he plays like this…

Stan Bowman flipped a player he shouldn’t have committed to for an underachieving lottery ticket that blossomed into a bonafide #2 center. Now…the Blackhawks just need to sign him and his best friend, Alex Debrincat.

Immediately on twitter I said…

Probably a pipe dream to get both for $13M, but that should be the goal and Stan should start working on that as soon as possible. The best thing to do now is sign Debrincat to a deal before he scores another 40+ next year and needs Auston Matthews money or close to it. Give him 5 years by 8 million and call it a day.