Blackhawks acquire Hurricanes’ Calvin de Haan in 4-player trade

The Blackhawks acquired defenseman Calvin de Haan and forward prospect Aleksi Saarela for goaltender Anton Forsberg and defenseman Gustav Forsling in an unexpected Monday night trade.

The move continues an ongoing remodeling of the Hawks’ defensive corps following a rough showing on that front last season. The team also recently traded for the Penguins’ Olli Maatta, sending Dominik Kahun and a fifth-round pick to Pittsburgh.

De Haan, like Maatta, is a defensive-minded blue liner who’s signed relatively affordably ($4.55 million cap hit) for the next three seasons. He joined the Hurricanes last year in free agency after spending the first five seasons of his career with the Islanders.

In his lone season in Carolina, De Haan recorded one goal and 13 assists in 74 games. The 28-year-old posted strong possession metrics, including a 55.5 percent even strength Corsi, for a team that dominated in that area.

He’s exactly the kind of player the Hawks needed: a conservative, reliable rearguard who can provide stability to a unit that previously lacked anyone in that role.

Whether he’s paired with Connor Murphy to form a true shutdown duo, slotted alongside Erik Gustafsson to counterbalance the Swede’s sometimes over-aggressive offensive tendencies, or designated as the responsible mentor for a prospect like Henri Jokiharju or Adam Boqvist, de Haan could be a useful addition in any number of ways.

Saarela, 22, will further boost the Hawks’ forward prospect pipeline, which has gotten a lot wetter in a matter of days. Saarela played most of the past two seasons for the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate, recording 30 goals and 24 assists in 69 games last season with the Calder Cup-winning Carolina Checkers. His 17-year-old brother, Antti, was drafted by the Hawks just this Saturday.

The Hawks gave up shockingly little in exchange for de Haan and Saarela, considering both assets heading to Raleigh are restricted free agents who may or may not have been set to receive qualifying offers by the Tuesday deadline.

Forsling, 23, and Forsberg, 26, both showed signs of promise at times with the Blackhawks but never established themselves at the NHL level. Forsling regularly missed time over the last three seasons due to injury or being sent to the AHL. Forsberg struggled with the Hawks in 2017-18 before playing well with Rockford last season, but had little path back to the United Center moving forward with Collin Delia having secured the backup role.

The Hawks now have 17 players under contract at a total cap hit of $69.53 million, per Cap Friendly.

That gives them a still-healthy $11.97 million to fill out the remaining spots on their roster under the salary cap, but general manager Stan Bowman may now be done upgrading the defense. The free agent market is woefully shallow at the position and the GM expressed concern at the draft about using too much of the team’s current cap room with rising stars Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome due for big raises next summer.

Even if the defense is set now, though, the Hawks have a real chance at improving now that both Maatta and de Haan are in the fold. A mere one acquisition seemed insufficient, but two equates to potentially one-third of the whole unit — and combined with an offseason of added familairity with coach Jeremy Colliton’s systems, the Hawks can reasonably expect substantial defensive improvement in 2019-20.