What if the Blackhawks Actually Traded Patrick Kane in 2012?
Every season has its ups and downs, and during any given season, there are rumors flying around the league. During the 2011-12 season, Chicago was attempting to bounce back after a first-round playoff exit in 2011, but a nine-game losing streak in mid-January almost changed everything. Luckily, the best move Stan Bowman has ever made was not making a move at all during this time period.
At the time Chicago was getting subpar goaltending from the tandem of Corey Crawford and Ray Emery, two men who would more than vindicate themselves only a short year later. Patrick Kane was good, not great at the time, on his way to 66 points in 82 games that season, and all signs pointed to the fact that he could be the sacrificial lamb to really make a wave. Kane had put up 46 points through 58 games, good for 4th on the team, but carrying the 2nd highest cap hit. Chicago’s forward core was loaded with players like Toews, Hossa, and Sharp along with budding young players including Andrew Shaw, Michael Frolik, Jimmy Hayes, Viktor Stalberg, and Dave Bolland. The one thing that seemed to be missing from the star-studded lineup was a true number one goalie.
Enter Ryan Miller.
Now, at the time, Miller was just over a year removed from winning his first Vezina trophy and showed no signs of slowing down, even on a subpar Buffalo Sabres team. Many fans and some experts alike were ready to oust the young star in a one for one trade back to his home town of Buffalo for their franchise goalie.
Hindsight is always 20/20, and we now know that Crawford goes on to backstop two Stanley Cup championship teams while Miller would never win a playoff series again. Miller has had individual success of his own, as he is still a decent backup goalie, even at age 38. But at the time, it didn’t look out of the question, may think that this would pan out to be a fair trade that would help the Blackhawks win now.
Bleacher Report, Hockey Central, and Sabre Noise articles were the smoke that started the fire on this rumor, but it is tough to say if this trade was ever discussed between the two teams. Regardless of the validity of the sources, or the depth of the conversations, it is always fun to look back knowing that the Blackhawks made the right decision and were rewarded for their faith in a young Patrick Kane.
What if?
From a Blackhawks perspective, I obviously don’t think they end up winning a second or third Stanley Cup without Kane on the roster, however, I do think they potentially could have made more noise that season, getting past the then nemesis Phoenix Coyotes in the 1st round. After that, Stan Bowman misses the chance to draft Teuvo Teravainen who never hit his potential in Chicago, but did make some important players en route to the 2015 championship. If Teravainen isn’t drafted, it is safe to wonder who gets moved to dump Bryan Bickell’s contract, or if Bickell even gets moved at that point. It is easy to wonder how each move snowballs into the next, but I think it is safe to say that Chicago would have regretted their move, and it could have lead to the premature departure of Stan Bowman and/or Joel Quenneville down the road.
On the other end of things, Buffalo obviously doesn’t trade Miller to St. Louis in 2015 (which brought them almost nothing worthwhile in return). It is hard to predict how things play out for the Sabres, as they have acquired elite talent since then and have still struggled to win, as much as Kane is a proven winner and clutch performer, I don’t know if he ever tips the scales for a team that was never that close in Buffalo. For Buffalo, there are some other “what ifs” that accompany this trade for a franchise with a string of bad luck along the way.
My favorite what if is what if the Sabres acquired Kane, and didn’t draft Sam Reinhart in the 2014 draft. We have seen Leon Draisaitl play wing alongside Connor McDavid, what if Buffalo drafted him instead.
Draisaitl – Eichel – Kane
What if this was potentially the most dominant line in the league RIGHT NOW?
What if Crawford never got his chance to be the full time starter?
What if Miller was the missing piece to accompany that 2011-12 team?
The fun thing about sports is the fact that we can always look back and ask those what-ifs, and banter about the potential outcomes. Like I stated, I am surely glad that Bowman didn’t make this move, history has obviously shined on the Blackhawks since then. We could play the same game with many of the contracts on the roster, the many trades that did and didn’t happen since then, and even free-agent signings that happened or could have happened.
The biggest what if in my mind is the question of what if Corey Crawford stops the Alec Martinez shot in game 7 of the conference final in 2014. What if Chicago wins that game, marching their way to a 3-peat in 2013, 2014, and 2015 becoming one of the greatest dynasties in NHL history.
That begs the question….
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Feature Image: Chicago Sun Times
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