Hawks Make Two More Deals

The Chicago Blackhawks have been very active on the trade front over the past few days, and continued that trend this morning. First the team dealt defenceman Daniel Girardi to the New York Rangers for highly touted prospect Brandon Gormley. Once the team acquired Ryan Suter there was plenty of speculation that Girardi may be moved.

A pending RFA who had just been pushed from the top six, the talented Girardi made good trade bait, and with ample depth on the farm in the case of injuries it made sense for the Hawks to pull the trigger on a deal. Gormley is a very talented two-way defenceman who is off to a blistering start for Moncton of the QMJHL. He has top pair potential in the NHL.

"Dan was a former Hawks 1st round draft pick, and obviously we thought very highly of him. Unfortunately our blueline has become very crowded, and with the continued development of Jason Garrison, Ben Lovejoy and Matt Taormina in Rockford Dan became a bit expendable. We were able to land an excellent prospect in return, and are quite happy with the deal. We wish Dan all the best in New York." added GM Semonick

In the second deal of the morning, Chicago dealt Colin Fraser to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2011 2nd round draft pick. Fraser like Girardi was a victim of the numbers game. With Cal O'reilly and PA Parenteau off to solid starts Fraser became a moveable piece, and acquiring a valuable 2nd rounder made sense for the club. "Colin is an excellent role player who we had a plan for in the future, however adding a 2nd round gives us flexibility at the deadline trade wise, or the opportunity to draft another high end prospect" Said the Hawks GM

It is believed the team is still pushing for a top end defenceman.