7 Biggest Trades in Chicago Blackhawks History, Ranked

An Original Six franchise, the Chicago Blackhawks have a long and complicated history. 

There’s no beating around it: the Hawks and their fans had to endure some rough times before being rewarded with three Stanley Cups between 2010 and 2015.

Part of the history – and the pain – are a handful of blockbuster deals that changed the franchise forever.

Check out my list of the seven biggest trades in the history of the Blackhawks.

7 Biggest Chicago Blackhawks Trades in Team History

1. Denis Savard for Chris Chelios  

This was a stunner for both clubs involved.

Denis Savard was a franchise legend for the Blackhawks, but he was getting long in the tooth and had some bouts with the front office.

The Blackhawks knew it was time to move on, and they found a willing trade partner in the Montreal Canadiens, who thought Chris Chelios was damaged goods due to a knee injury.

It turns out the Canadiens couldn’t have been more wrong.

Chelios won two Norris Trophies in his nine seasons with the Blackhawks, and his 487 points are fourth-most among defencemen in franchise history.

2. Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, and Fred Stanfeld for Pit Martin, Jack Norris, and Gilles Marotte

This is one the Blackhawks would love to have back.

With Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull already in tow, the Blackhawks had all the makings of a potential powerhouse in the late 1960s. Unfortunately, the team traded away the potential third wheel to the Boston Bruins before they knew what they had.

Phil Esposito’s career was already off to a promising start when the Hawks dealt him to Boston, but he took it to a new level in Beantown.

Esposito won two Stanley Cups, two Hart Trophies, and five Art Ross Trophies and posted a 76-goal campaign with the B’s. 

The Blackhawks didn’t win a Stanley Cup between 1961 and 2010, but most people believe that would not have been the case if they hadn’t traded “Espo.”

3. Dominik Hasek for Stephane Beauregard and a Fourth-Round Pick

This one also stings.

It has to be noted that the Blackhawks were set in the goaltending department with Ed Belfour when they traded Dominik Hašek to the Buffalo Sabres in August 1992. 

But with that said, it’s still a tough trade for Hawks fans to look back on.

Hasek would become the most dominant goaltender in the 1990s and almost single-handedly won the Sabres a Stanley Cup in 1999. 

The Blackhawks had some solid teams in the 1990s, but they may have gotten over the hump had they held onto Hasek. 

4. Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan for Tony Amonte and Matt Oates

This was a classic win-win trade.

Stephane Matteau, Brian Noonan, and the New York Rangers would win the 1994 Stanley Cup, but Tony Amonte became a franchise icon for the Blackhawks.

Amonte put up 268 goals and 273 assists in nine years with the Blackhawks.  

5. Klas Dahlbeck and a First-Round Pick for Antoine Vermette

This may be a controversial choice to include on this list, but you could argue that Chicago’s acquisition of Antoine Vermette directly led to a Stanley Cup in 2015.

Vermette recorded just three points in 19 regular-season games with the Blackhawks, but the do-it-all centre was terrific in the postseason and scored game-winning goals in Game 4 of the Western Conference final and then Games 1 and 5 of the Stanley Cup Final. 

6. Jeremy Roenick for Alexei Zhamnov, Craig Mills, and a First-Round Pick

One of the biggest personalities in the sport, Jeremy Roenick was a fan favourite in Chicago. Unfortunately, he wasn’t a favourite of the front office in 1996 when he was a restricted free agent.

Rather than give into Roenick’s demands, the Blackhawks traded him to Phoenix for a package centred around Alexei Zhamnov, who was supposed to be the next Russian star.

Zhamnov was a fine professional, but the Hawks missed the impact that Roenick provided on and off the ice.

Chicago would spend the next decade in the wilderness, and it was not unusual to see them tagged with some of the worst hockey odds to win the Stanley Cup.

7. Chris Chelios for Anders Eriksson and Two First-Round Picks

The list concludes with another painful trade from the 1990s.

A pending free agent in 1999, Chelios made it clear he wanted to stick with Chicago long-term. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks didn’t feel the same way and sent their star blue-liner to their hated rival in Detroit for Anders Eriksson and a couple of first-round picks.

That sounds like a decent package for a 37-year-old defenceman, but Chelios proved to be an outlier. Chelios played for another decade in Detroit, winning two Stanley Cups and providing a steady presence on the blueline for teams that were often listed among the favourites in the NHL odds to win the Stanley Cup.