NASHVILLE, Tenn. — One of the Blackhawks’ possible bad-contract trades that seemed most sensible for weeks became reality Thursday.
The Hawks acquired veteran forward Josh Bailey from the Islanders, then promptly placed him on waivers to buy him out, Sportsnet reported. They received a 2026 second-round draft pick for doing so. The Islanders officially received future considerations, which means nothing.
The buyout incurs a $2.67 million salary-cap hit for the Hawks in 2023-24 and a $1.67 million hit in 2024-25, per CapFriendly. It makes Bailey, who previously had one year remaining at $5 million on his contract, an unrestricted free agent come Saturday.
Bailey, who will turn 34 in August, has slowed down considerably after 15 consecutive seasons with the Islanders. His 25 points in 64 games last season tied for the worst full-season output of his career.
In that sense, the trade makes perfect sense for both sides, who hammered it out thanks to the proximity provided by the NHL draft Wednesday and Thursday.
The Islanders freed up cap space to try to re-sign or bring in higher-end players. The Hawks, meanwhile, added another future asset to their rebuild by weaponizing their abundant cap space.
Other trades
The Hawks acquired the free-agent rights to Corey Perry from the Lightning for a 2024 seventh-round pick later in the draft Thursday.
General manager Kyle Davidson will attempt to sign Perry, who doesn’t score much at age 38 but certainly brings plenty of experience, before Saturday. The fan base, harboring resentment toward Perry from his long Ducks tenure, didn’t sound thrilled by the move.
Davidson also sent the Hawks’ 51st overall pick (one of their four second-round selections) to the Flyers for the 167th pick (in the sixth round) and a 2024 second-round pick.
This story will be updated.
