Blackhawks unlikely to work trade
The defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks are not looking to add any players at the trade deadline, general manager Stan Bowman said Saturday.
“We aren’t focused on the deadline,” Bowman said prior to the Blackhawks’ game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Soldier Field. “We’re really happy with the team we have.”
The Blackhawks are second in the Western Conference’s Central division with a 35-12-14 record and 84 points. The St. Louis Blues lead the division with a 39-14-6 record and 84 points. The Blues hold the tiebreaker in regulation wins and have played two fewer games.
Bowman said the Blackhawks made their significant move for the season when they acquired forward Kris Versteeg from the Florida Panthers in November. Versteeg has played on the second and third lines for the Blackhawks and has seven goals, 14 assists and a plus-3 rating in 42 games for them this season.
“We made our big move back in November, adding Kris Versteeg,” Bowman said. “We did that intentionally to try to get a player in for a longer period of time. I think sometimes it’s hard for a guy to come in for a couple weeks, and then you jump into the playoffs. You can’t really get them acclimated to your system and the way you play and who he’s going to play with.
“We’re not looking at [the deadline] at all. We’ve got a great group here, a lot of chemistry with our guys. We’re focused on just going ahead, getting back on the ice. We’ve been off for a while with the [Olympic] break. That’s not the focus for us.”
http://espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/story/_/id/10539082/chicago-blackhawks-gm-says-team-not-focused-trade-deadline