The Deals
The Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers completed two trades in three days this week, sending three Chicago players north in exchange for a pair of draft picks and a forward. Here's exactly what moved.
On Monday, Chicago traded defenseman Connor Murphy to the Oilers for a second-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft. The Blackhawks are retaining 50 percent of Murphy's $4.4 million cap hit. Murphy is in the final year of a four-year, $17.6 million deal and becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Then on Wednesday, the Blackhawks sent center Jason Dickinson and forward Colton Dach to Edmonton in exchange for forward Andrew Mangiapane and a conditional first-round pick in 2027. Chicago is retaining 50 percent of Dickinson's $4.25 million cap hit as part of the deal. Dickinson is also a pending unrestricted free agent, while Dach will be a restricted free agent under Edmonton's control.
The condition on that 2027 first-round pick is significant: it's top-12 protected. If Edmonton's pick lands in the top 12, the Oilers may instead transfer their 2028 first-round pick to Chicago. There's a further wrinkle — if the Oilers trade their 2028 first before the 2027 trade deadline, the 2027 pick automatically conveys to the Blackhawks with no protection. It's also worth noting the ripple effect on Edmonton's other obligations: because the Oilers moved their 2027 first, the 2026 first-round pick they previously sent to San Jose in the Jake Walman trade is now unprotected. That pick had been top-12 protected unless Edmonton dealt its 2027 first, which is exactly what happened here.
Trade Summary
| Trade | Chicago Sends | Chicago Receives |
|---|---|---|
| March 2 | D Connor Murphy (50% retained) | 2028 2nd-round pick |
| March 5 | C Jason Dickinson (50% retained), F Colton Dach | F Andrew Mangiapane, conditional 2027 1st-round pick (top-12 protected) |
The Departures
There's no way around it — these are real losses in the room, even if they were the right moves on paper. Connor Murphy was the longest-tenured player on the roster. Nine seasons, 547 games, five consecutive King Clancy Award nominations for his work in the community, and the kind of steady presence that young defensemen could set their watch to. He led the team in blocked shots this season with 87 and was second in short-handed ice time at 2:57 per game. He played through bad teams, bad injuries, and never once ducked the cameras. Murphy put it plainly when asked about the trade: "It was a whirlwind of emotions, a lot of excitement. Edmonton has been a top team that I've had my sights set on." He wanted to win, and the Blackhawks weren't in a position to offer that. Nobody should blame him for being ready.
Jason Dickinson spent four seasons in Chicago after being acquired from Vancouver for Riley Stillman in October 2022. He posted 94 points in 266 games as a Blackhawk, served as an alternate captain for the last three of those seasons, and became one of the most reliable two-way forwards on the roster. His career-high 22-goal season in 2023-24 showed what he could do when he was healthy and in rhythm. He logged over 100 short-handed minutes for a fourth straight season this year and was a key piece of the NHL's top-ranked penalty kill at 85.9 percent. Coach Jeff Blashill summed him up well: "A great human, really even-keeled, got a great head on his shoulders, very self-accountable." That's the kind of veteran presence that's hard to replace in a locker room full of players under 25.
Colton Dach had set career highs across the board this season — three goals, six assists, nine points in 53 games — and ranked 10th in the entire NHL with 189 hits. The 23-year-old was a second-round pick by the Blackhawks in 2021 and spent time with the Rockford IceHogs before becoming a full-time NHLer this year. His ceiling as a 6-foot-4 physical forward who can play center or wing made him an appealing throw-in for Edmonton, but his departure also means one less homegrown depth piece for Chicago going forward. He heads to Edmonton to join his older brother Kirby Dach's former organization — though Kirby now plays for Montreal.
What Chicago Gets Back
The headline return is the conditional 2027 first-round pick. Even with the top-12 protection, this is a significant asset. Landing a first-rounder for Dickinson — a pending UFA center having a down offensive year — is a testament to Davidson leveraging salary retention at the right time. The Blackhawks used one of their remaining retention slots on Murphy's deal and their last one on Dickinson's, which means they cannot retain salary on any further trades this season. The other retention slot is already committed to the Seth Jones contract for the next four years.
Andrew Mangiapane arrives as the salary ballast that made the Dickinson deal work for Edmonton's cap. He's 29, signed through next season at $3.6 million AAV, and has had a rough year — seven goals and 14 points in 52 games with the Oilers, on pace for his lowest goal total since his rookie year. The Oilers placed him on waivers earlier this week, with GM Stan Bowman saying the move was about cap management rather than performance. There's upside here for Chicago: Mangiapane has 130 career goals and won gold with Team Canada at the 2021 IIHF World Championship. If the Blackhawks can get him going in a bigger role, he could be a useful piece this season and a potential trade chip at next year's deadline. If not, $3.6 million for one more year is a manageable commitment for a team that isn't up against the cap.
The 2028 second-round pick from the Murphy deal is a solid, straightforward return for a 32-year-old rental defenseman. A second-round pick was always the realistic ceiling for Murphy, and Davidson got it.
Draft Capital and the Bigger Picture
This is where Davidson's long game comes into focus. The conditional 2027 first-rounder gives the Blackhawks a sixth consecutive draft cycle with multiple first-round selections. That is a staggering accumulation of high-end draft capital for a rebuilding franchise. For perspective: Chicago had three first-rounders in 2022 (Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar, Sam Rinzel), two in 2023 (Connor Bedard at No. 1 and Oliver Moore), and multiple firsts in both 2024 and 2025. They already own five picks in the first two rounds of the 2026 draft — two firsts and three seconds — plus two second-round picks in 2027 and a fourth-rounder in 2028 from the Laurent Brossoit trade to San Jose.
Davidson has spoken repeatedly about stacking draft capital so the Blackhawks have the flexibility to leverage picks when the time comes — whether that means packaging picks in a trade for a cornerstone player or simply restocking the pipeline year after year. The Dickinson trade tree alone tells the story of how that philosophy plays out in practice. It started with Riley Stillman going to Vancouver in October 2022, which brought Dickinson and a second-round pick to Chicago. Dickinson gave the Blackhawks 266 games and four productive seasons. Now his departure has netted a first-round pick and Mangiapane. From Stillman to three first-round picks and a roster forward — that is an objectively impressive return.
The Blackhawks sit at 23-28-10, 11 points behind the Seattle Kraken for the final Western Conference wild-card spot. This is not a team competing for anything this spring, and Davidson is treating the deadline accordingly. He's not selling the future to chase a playoff spot that isn't there. He's adding to the war chest.
The Edmonton Connection
There's an irony to these deals that's hard to miss. Stan Bowman, the man who originally acquired Connor Murphy for the Blackhawks in a 2017 trade with Arizona, just reacquired him as the Oilers' general manager. Bowman has a well-documented history of going back to players he's familiar with, and this week was a masterclass in that tendency — two trades in three days with his former team, adding Murphy, Dickinson, and Dach to an Oilers roster that's trying to reach a third straight Stanley Cup Final.
Edmonton entered Wednesday at 30-24-8, sitting third in the Pacific Division and four points behind the Vegas Golden Knights. The Oilers have lost to the Florida Panthers in the Cup Final in each of the past two seasons. Dickinson slots in as a third-line center behind Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and his penalty-killing ability fills an immediate need. Murphy adds a right-shot defenseman who can block shots and log tough minutes. McDavid's assessment of Murphy was simple: "Not fun to play against, which is a good sign." Bowman was blunt about the team's window: "We're not looking at the team in a couple of years. We're looking to try to win right now."
What's Still to Come
Friday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline is less than 24 hours away, and Davidson likely isn't finished. Forward Ilya Mikheyev remains on the block as a pending unrestricted free agent, and captain Nick Foligno is still weighing whether to chase one more playoff run or stay with the Blackhawks through the end of the season. Both are pending UFAs, and moving either would free up roster spots for prospects who need NHL reps before the season ends.
The retention situation does limit Davidson's options going forward. With both remaining salary retention slots now used — one on Murphy, one on Dickinson, with the Seth Jones retention already committed — Chicago cannot retain salary on any additional trades. That could affect the return on any remaining deals, particularly for Mikheyev, whose $4.75 million cap hit is a heavy lift for cap-strapped contenders without retention help.
But the big moves are done. Davidson went into this week needing to move expiring contracts, add draft picks, and keep the rebuild on schedule. Two trades, a first-round pick, a second-round pick, and a forward with term later, it's fair to say he accomplished what he set out to do. The Blackhawks won't be playing hockey in May. The goal right now is to make sure they're built to contend when the time comes — and this week moved that timeline forward.