Blackhawks shake up roster as trades sweep NHL

Two days after they were swept by the Nashville Predators, general manager Stan Bowman bubbled and boiled and promised change, above all, to the Chicago Blackhawks.

That change came in loud fashion Friday morning just before the start of draft weekend in Chicago with the Blackhawks dealing 2016 Calder trophy winner Artemi Panarin to Columbus in a package that brings back Brandon Saad. The Hawks also dealt Niklas Hjalmarsson, a key piece on three Stanley Cup winning squads to Arizona as trades continued to overshadow draft weekend.

Trading season has truly taken over the NHL.

After adding Hjalmarsson, the Coyotes also picked up longtime New York Rangers centre Derek Stepan and potential starting netminder Antti Raanta. Arizona has been busy under Andrew Barroway — who became the club’s sole owner earlier this month — dealing No. 1 goalie Mike Smith to Calgary last week while parting ways with well-regarded head coach Dave Tippett on Thursday night.

At Friday night’s draft, the Philadelphia Flyers shipped forward Brayden Schenn to the St. Louis Blues for forward Jori Lehtera, the No. 27 pick (centre Morgan Frost), and a conditional pick in the 2018 draft.

The Blues made another deal, sending forward Ryan Reaves and the 51st pick in this year’s draft to the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 31st pick (forward Klim Kostin) in 2017 and forward Oskar Sundqvist.

The Edmonton Oilers, meanwhile, finally traded scoring winger Jordan Eberle to New York for Ryan Strome and extra cap space for looming contracts to Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. The Las Vegas Golden Knights completed 10 deals at the expansion draft and then sent Trevor van Riemsdyk to Carolina and David Schlemko to Montreal.

The Blackhawks netted youngish defenceman Connor Murphy in the swap that sent Hjalmarsson out and also scooped up Darling’s likely replacement, Anton Forsberg, in the Panarin deal.