Sources: Blackhawks have talked to Red Wings about Nyquist, Tatar

SHARE Sources: Blackhawks have talked to Red Wings about Nyquist, Tatar
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Red Wings right wing Gustav Nyquist takes the puck from Penguins right wing Tom Kuhnhackl on Jan. 14 in Detroit. | Paul Sancya/AP

With the trade deadline March 1 a little more than a month away, the Blackhawks are in the market for a top-six left wing to play alongside Jonathan Toews. One possibility might be a trade with the Red Wings.

Two league sources told the Sun-Times the Hawks have had preliminary discussions about Red Wings wingers Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar. The Red Wings are in the market for a defenseman, and the Hawks have 10 or 11 NHL-ready blue-liners in Chicago and Rockford.

Every name that pops up in speculation at this time of year needs to be taken with a grain of salt. General managers who are buyers are calling just about any GM who appears to be a seller to get a feel for the market.

But Nyquist and Tatar make sense for the Hawks. Tatar would be preferable because he comes with a cheap cap hit ($2.75 million) and will be a restricted free agent after the season. Nyquist makes $4.75 million and has two more years on his contract. Tatar has 10 goals this season and had a combined 50 in the last two seasons. Nyquist has seven goals but had 28 in 2013-14 and 27 in 2014-15.

The Hawks already have been linked in talks to the Maple Leafs’ James van Riemsdyk, the Avalanche’s Jarome Iginla and the Stars’ Patrick Sharp, among others.

One factor that might prevent the Hawks from making any significant deadline moves is that they’re hosting the draft in June and are reluctant to part with any high draft picks. GM Stan Bowman dealt his first-round pick in 2015 for Antoine Vermette and in 2016 for Andrew Ladd. That’s unlikely to happen again this season.

The Hawks did make a minor move, acquiring forward Michael Latta from the Kings for defenseman Cameron Schilling. Latta will report to Rockford of the AHL.

Follow me on Twitter @MarkLazerus.

Email: mlazerus@suntimes.com

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