Lessons from the Brandon Hagel trade
How the Blackhawks transformed one free agent prospect into four future pieces
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So far in the newsletter, we’ve discussed two main ideas: asset liquidity and the asset pipeline.
The challenge of marrying these two ideologies is one of the many strategies that hockey operation departments must coordinate to find success. The Tampa Bay Lightning have been a model franchise in identifying liquid assets and monetizing their asset pipeline to push a contender over the top.
Today, we are looking at the other side of the coin to see how a rebuilding team operates with these two ideologies in mind.
Few rebuilding teams have monetized a highly liquid asset as successfully as the Chicago Blackhawks did with Brandon Hagel. They traded Hagel to the Lightning for their 2023 and 2024 first-round picks, Taylor Raddysh, and Boris Katchouk.
"I said a few weeks ago that we are rebuilding and this is clearly the start of that," Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson said in a statement. "Getting two first-round draft picks as well as two young NHL players helps us kickstart that process in a major way."
Hagel was a 6th round pick of the Buffalo Sabres that went unsigned. In his overage year in the WHL, he exploded for 102 points in 66 games. The Blackhawks not only signed him but played him in 8 AHL games which burned a year of his entry-level contract. He spent the 2019-20 season in the AHL developing until he was ready to play with the Blackhawks full-time in the 2020-21 season.
In the summer of 2021, he signed a three-year contract for $1.5 million per season. It was a good move for Hagel, he hadn’t yet proven that he was a consistent NHL contributor but ensured that he would become a multi-millionaire. The Blackhawks were betting on his one and only NHL season not being a fluke but rather just the beginning of his trajectory.
In 2021-22, the Blackhawks’ gamble paid off and Hagel turned into a legitimate NHL contributor.
Suddenly, the Blackhawks had one of the most liquid contracts in the league. Here was a player capable of playing in a team’s top six, could be used on both special teams, was effective on the forecheck, and could bury his scoring opportunities. All for the bargain price of $1.5 million for the next three seasons.
If this was the exact kind of contract every team is looking for in a salary-capped league, why would the Blackhawks even consider trading the 23-year-old?
Well, GM Kyle Davidson had the big picture in mind. He assessed where the Blackhawks were in their competitive cycle and concluded that the team was still too early in the rebuilding stage and needed to acquire as many future assets as possible.
This meant:
Hagel would likely be in his late 20s and be on a much less friendly contract by the time Chicago was ready to compete.
Hagel’s value, especially through the lens of liquidity would never be higher than this season.
The return Hagel could fetch would instantly transform their asset pipeline.
Next time, we’ll dive into some contract comparables for Hagel and see if there are other similar opportunities.
Three Important Takeaways
The Blackhawks exemplified the asset pipeline’s flywheel effect by developing one prospect they acquired for free into an asset that returned four future pieces.
They added additional value by signing Hagel to a highly liquid contract which took strong faith in not only the player but also the coaching and development staff.
Most importantly, Davidson was disciplined. He stayed on course in his long-term plan and didn’t let the emotions of losing a young and valuable player impair his decision-making.