3 Trade Destinations for Blackhawks’ Louis Crevier
The Chicago Blackhawks have a problem as they have too many defensemen who should at least get a long look in the NHL next season, but it is a good problem because they all have some value and someone is going to be getting traded.
When looking at the nine d-men who should be on the roster, Connor Murphy, the only veteran, is the obvious choice to be traded. But beyond him, at least one of the young defensemen have to go or they will be wasted in the AHL or in between.
The players who won't be moved are Alex Vlasiv, Sam Rinzel, and Artyom Levchunov, but there's no guarantee for Kevin Korchinski, Nolan Allan, Ethan Del Mastro, Wyatt Kaiser, and Louis Crevier, even if some are far more likely to be traded than others.
One defenseman I have my eye on is Crevier. While he is likely in a good spot as the seventh defenseman because his ceiling is the lowest of any young d-man I noted, he is blocking an NHL spot from someone else. His value is also not too high, but even getting a future mid to late round pick for him is better than nothing.
The Blackhawks signed Crevier for two years at $900,000 AAV and he will still be a RFA after that expires. He played just 32 games in the NHL last season and scored three goals and four points while playing 17:17 per game. He is also 24 years old now, the same age as Vlasic and older than all of the other young defensemen. So, which teams could show interest, even if it is only for a seventh spot on their roster?
The Dallas Stars do not have much money, but they do have enough to swap out Alex Petrovic on the projected roster for Crevier, who is nine years younger and played more games in the NHL last season. Petrovic has been a late season band-aid and the Stars haven't patched that area yet. While they are looking for a bigger fish on the right side, someone like Crevier might have to do. There is still uncertainty with Nils Lundkvist on the third pairing, with both health and his play.
Crevier can play games and play defensively. He averaged over two more minutes per game than Lundvkist, although Crevier would probably be the safe seventh d-man on the team. Dallas can't have holes and right now the right side of the defense is at the most risk.
The Colorado Avalanche have seven defensemen that they plan to go into the season with, but you'll have a tough time finding a defensive unit that spends more time on the IR than the Avalanche, so the next man up is very much needed. Of the projected starting six, Josh Manson missed 34 games, Sam Girard missed nine games, Devon Toews and Sam Malinski missed six each, and Cale Makar missed two. That was also Makar's healthiest season of his career. Brent Burns doesn't miss time, but if multiple go down at once, the Avalanche won't be confident in whoever they have to call up. Crevier is a much safer bet and he's large.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have their starting six defense as well, but their seventh spot is very much up for the taking. Maxwell Cozier, Declan Carlile, and Steven Santini all played five or fewer games in the NHL last season, but that doesn't mean any are good options to get in the lineup for more than a few games or be on the roster.
The Lightning aren't the healthiest squad either. Ryan McDonagh was the only defenseman to play at least 80 games, and along with that, JJ Moser only played 54 games. Tampa Bay will need reinforcements to come into the lineup and Crevier fits the look of their defense.
