Blackhawks Acquire Johnny Oduya From Winnipeg Jets
All around the league, the trade deadline proved to be a bit of a disaster, outside of the handful of trades that came down at the last minute. But that’s what happens when so many teams still consider themselves in the playoff hunt.
For the Blackhawks, the trade deadline was especially disappointing, as they failed to get much of anything that they had hoped to acquire. But considering the fact that a sellers’ market was forcing teams to drastically overpay, it’s probably for the better.
The one move that Stan Bowman did make was picking up defenseman Johnny Oduya from the Winnipeg Jets. It’s already been the subject of a great deal of criticism, but is a solid move for Bowman considering the market he was dealing with.
The price to acquire Oduya was a pair of draft picks, with the Hawks surrendering picks in the second and third rounds in the 2013 draft. Is it a steep price? Could be. We really won’t know until we even know what the class for that draft looked like.
Many wanted/hoped the Blackhawks would pick up a top four defenseman. There weren’t really any available, unless they wanted to pay an absurd amount to acquire a guy like Matt Carle (who was my choice).
In Oduya, they get a guy who will take minutes away from both Duncan Keith and Nick Leddy. He won’t touch the 19 minutes he was icing with the Jets, but he’s still capable of playing a good chunk of minutes, which is a big positive.
The one downside to the acquisition of Oduya is the fact that he adds nothing to the power play. He’s strictly a full strength guy, but he should help out on the penalty kill as well. He’s not a big point producer, but the Hawks weren’t exactly looking for another guy on the blue line to put up numbers.
When you compare him to the other guys that aren’t Keith, or Brent Seabrook, or even Nick Leddy, Oduya might not be better, but he’s not exactly worse either.
Did the Hawks overpay for Oduya? Sure. But that’s what you have to do in a market like this. For a blue line that was already questionable before the recent string of injuries, Bowman didn’t have any leverage.
It’s very likely that these next few weeks are the only time we’ll see Oduya in a Blackhawks sweater. He carries a $3.5 million cap hit and is an unrestricted free agent this summer. The fact that he is a rental could certainly bring up the debate as to whether or not Bowman should have surrendered a pair of picks for him, but he should be a decent pickup down the stretch run.
If the Hawks are able to pick up their play on the ice, as well as their attitude in the locker room, many of their problems could be fixed. Even if they do that, a deal like this was necessary. It’s a decent move for Bowman, considering the market he was working with.
Buy Chicago Blackhawks Tickets | Buy Chicago Blackhawks ApparelLeave a Rant
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
Rant Picks
FEATURED PARTNERS
- "Hot Girls" Make Rebecca Black Look Like Adele
- Josh Hutcherson Adopts A Puppy
- 63 Reasons Why Boybands Were Better In The '90s
- Kobe Bryant and Vanessa Divorce -- Reconciliation Effort Hits a Cold Patch
- Dwight Howard's Baby Mama Royce Reed -- Dear Judge ... Please Let Me Trash My Ex!!!
- Brian 'The Boz' Bosworth Sued Over Poop System Disaster in Mansion from 'The OC'
- This Is What the 2013 Coachella All-Hologram Lineup Looks Like
- Jose Canseco Uses Twitter to Creep On the Ladies
- Antonio Cromartie Continues to Prove that His Sperm is a Force; Wife Pregnant With Twins