Blackhawks trade Mattias Janmark to Golden Knights for 2 draft picks

After weeks of speculation and days of anticipation, the Blackhawks traded Mattias Janmark to the Golden Knights on Monday ahead of the NHL trade deadline.

Hawks general manager Stan Bowman will likely be thrilled with the return. The Hawks acquired a 2021 second-round pick, a 2022 third-round pick and AHL defenseman Nick DeSimone by giving up Janmark and a 2022 fifth-round pick.

Janmark was a healthy scratch for the Hawks’ game Saturday for injury protection purposes, making it all-but-certain he’d be on the move.

Before that, the 28-year-old wing had scored 19 points in 41 games in his one and only season in Chicago, although those totals included just one point in his last 10. His analytics were remarkably bad, too. He entered Monday with a 41.7% on-ice shot-attempt ratio, the worst on the team, and 41.9% on-ice scoring chance ratio, second-worst on the team.

The draft picks may not be exciting, but they represent a well-above-expected return for Janmark. His value seemed likely to be around a third-round pick; to get second- and third-round picks for him is an overpayment by the Golden Knights and a much-appreciated haul for the Hawks.

The Sharks were also involved in the trade. The Hawks retained 50% of Janmark’s $2.25 million cap hit (equaling $1.125 million) and the Sharks retained an additional 25% to help him fit into the cap space-strapped Knights’ roster. The Sharks also received a fifth-round pick from the Knights and traded AHL defenseman Nick DeSimone to the Knights.

Bowman also made two other trades Monday, acquiring Adam Gaudette from the Canucks and dealing Carl Soderberg to the Avalanche.