Blackhawks still active in trade discussions ahead of NHL Draft

Even after executing one of the NHL’s first trades of the offseason Saturday, acquiring defenseman Olli Maatta from the Penguins, the Blackhawks remain likely to make more moves in the near future.

General manager Stan Bowman said Sunday that he’s involved in a lot of discussions entering the week of the draft, which begins Friday in Vancouver. It’s typically one of the hottest periods of the league calendar for trading.

“Right now, the trade chatter has been pretty active throughout the league. I’ve had a number of conversations, and I expect that to continue over the next week,” Bowman said. “We’re going to continue to look into other ways to improve our team through trades, and if none of that comes to be, then we’ll look at the free-agent market. We expect to be active.”

The Hawks have been linked to several players in the rumor mill, including the Blue Jackets’ Ryan Murray, the Ducks’ Corey Perry and the Hurricanes’ Justin Faulk, but there was no connection to Maatta before the surprising deal was made.

Bowman suggested the Hawks’ game plan to fix their struggling defense might be to collect as many potential top-six players as possible, then let the opening roster and pairings get sorted out in training camp. But the team already has arguably too many defensemen to hold on to all summer, so even if that strategy holds up, they might need to move one or two while making another addition or two.

“As far as who’s going to be in our lineup on opening night, that’s a long ways off and that’s not really the focus of the discussions we have right now,” Bowman said. “We’re trying to bring in as many options as we can.”

Draft picks could be moved, as well. Twenty-eight selections changed hands on the Friday and Saturday of the draft last year, and the Hawks have made at least one draft-weekend trade for six years running.

The No. 3 choice probably isn’t on the table — and if it is, only to trade down, not trade out of the first round — but the Hawks’ five other picks could be.