On Thursday morning, Max Domi was answering questions about how the Blackhawks were moving on without Patrick Kane. He discussed his experience playing with Kane and looking forward to cheering for him with the Rangers in the playoffs.
By the end of the night, Domi was a former Hawk himself.
Domi was held out of Thursday’s 5-2 loss to the Stars due to “roster management” and subsequently traded to Dallas. The Hawks sent Domi and AHL goalie Dylan Wells to the Stars in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick and goaltender Anton Khudobin.
Khudobin’s inclusion makes the numbers work from a salary-cap perspective for the Stars. The 36-year-old goalie has spent most of the season in the AHL (posting an .899 save percentage there) but is in the final year of a contract with a $3.33 million cap hit. Wells’ inclusion simply balances out the goalie exchange.
Khudobin will report to the IceHogs.
That means the trade is functionally Domi for a second-round pick, which had been the Hawks’ asking price for a while and made sense given other comparable forward rental trades around the NHL this week.
Domi had been excellent on- and off-ice since signing with the Hawks last summer. His 49 points in 60 games put him on pace for the second-best season of his career.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Hawks circle back this summer — if he hits free agency — and consider re-signing him to a longer contract. Domi has expressed openness to that possibility, as well.
But in the meantime, he boosts the Stars’ top-six forwards group, which needed one more playmaker to put it over the top.
The Hawks are in a much different position with vastly different objectives.
They are firmly in the race for the league’s worst record and the best chance to pick phenom Connor Bedard. Kane is now with the Rangers, Jonathan Toews might never play again and the franchise is in the early portions of what could be a long and painful rebuild.
Hawks coach Luke Richardson, however, said the circumstances aren’t hurting his morale.
“I’ve been around the game that long. It’s the same every year,” Richardson said after the morning skate. “In some years and some teams, there’s a little more movement than others, but there’s always the same anticipation, whether it happens a lot. The good thing about it is, hockey’s such an emotional sport, you’re getting pumped up, not quite like football but similar.
“I think when that gets close to game time, your mind goes right to that. It almost gives you a break [from] all the noise around and lets you just play the game.”
To outside observers, none of this is a surprise. Defenseman Seth Jones indicated the recent deals are difficult but not shocking to him.
“Not just those [Kane and Domi], but all the guys we’ve traded away,” Jones said. “It’s emotional for everyone. And at the end of the day, it’s a business and we knew this week was coming, so to speak. This summer, I would say.”
When he was added during the offseason, it looked like Domi was signed just to be flipped for future assets. Yet his words early Thursday showed just how quickly things can change around a rebuilding team near the trading deadline that’s clearly looking to deal.
“At no point has [Kane’s status] been a distraction to us at all this year,” he said. “This is our group in here and we’re going to make the most of it tonight.”
Now that group does not include Domi.
