Blackhawks trade Robin Lehner, Erik Gustafsson on deadline day

ST. LOUIS — It took the Blackhawks a while to get going, but they eventually made three deals in the hours before the NHL trade deadline Monday.

The two players most likely to be moved — defenseman Erik Gustafsson and goalie Robin Lehner — were dealt as general manager Stan Bowman sought to get what he could for the two pending free agents.

‘‘Going into a period like this at the trade deadline, you have to try to manage your assets going forward,’’ Bowman said. ‘‘[It] certainly was a busy stretch, talking throughout the league with other teams and understanding what they wanted to get in return.’’

Gustafsson was dealt to the Flames for a third-round draft pick, ending weeks of waiting — and two games of precautionary healthy scratches — to learn his destination.

The offensive defenseman could have fetched far more if he had been traded last summer, when he was coming off a 60-point season, but Bowman said he didn’t think it was worth guessing Gustafsson’s value in a ‘‘hypothetical situation.’’

For a while, it seemed as though the Gustafsson trade would be the Hawks’ only one of the day. But then Lehner was dealt, infuriating Chicagoans who had fallen in love with the outspoken (and sometimes controversial) goalie.

The Golden Knights acquired Lehner for a second-round draft pick, prospect defenseman Slava Demin — a teammate of top Hawks prospect Ian Mitchell at the University of Denver — and struggling backup goalie Malcolm Subban.

The trade was complicated by the presence of the Maple Leafs as a facilitator. The Hawks and Leafs both ended up on the hook for some of Lehner’s cap hit.

In Las Vegas, Lehner will form an intimidating tandem with Marc-Andre Fleury for the rest of the season. Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon told reporters he thought he was able to acquire Lehner for less than it would have taken to acquire an equally elite forward.

Bowman said he found the goalie market to be surprisingly thin.

‘‘You look at other teams thinking they have a chance this year, and a lot of them have comfort with the goaltending position,’’ he said. ‘‘If you have three, four, five defensemen you like, you can always use another one. But if you have a goalie you like, you’re not always interested in another one.’’

Subban will compete with Rockford goalies Collin Delia and Kevin Lankinen for the backup role behind Corey Crawford — at least until this summer. At that point, Crawford will be an unrestricted free agent, Subban and Lankinen will be restricted free agents and Lehner could be re-signed.

‘‘Leading into the summer, we do have some decisions to make,’’ Bowman said. ‘‘It’s early to handicap what’s going to happen with the goaltending position.’’

Subban, 26, has started about 20 games in each of the last three seasons for the Knights but has struggled to an .890 save percentage this season.

Demin adds another player to the Hawks’ long and deep pipeline of defensive prospects. As a fourth-round pick in 2018, his draft pedigree wasn’t that high, but he boasts an impressive combination of size, physicality and puck-moving ability.

‘‘When people get to know him, they’ll know why we’re excited to add him,’’ Bowman said. ‘‘Talented young defenseman [with] big upside.’’

The Hawks made one additional small swap, trading 22-year-old minor-league forward Nathan Noel to the Flyers for 30-year-old minor-league defenseman T.J. Brennan.

They also made paper transactions that will enable wing Matthew Highmore and defenseman Lucas Carlsson to be eligible for the American Hockey League playoffs with Rockford.