Zawaski: Vermette A Top Prize For Blackhawks
By Jay Zawaski-
(CBS) First, the Blackhawks acquired a veteran, potential all-star defenseman in Kimmo Timonen on Friday. Then roughly 24 hours later, general manager Stan Bowman acquired the trade deadline's top prize: Arizona center Antoine Vermette.
From the Blackhawks' official release:
The Chicago Blackhawks announced today that they have acquired forward Antoine Vermette from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for defenseman Klas Dahlbeck and a first-round selection in the 2015 National Hockey League Draft.
Vermette, 32, has recorded 430 points (194G, 236A) in 815 career NHL games over 11 season with Ottawa, Columbus and Arizona, in addition to 18 points (9G, 9A) in 58 career Stanley Cup Playoff appearances. His 35 points (13G, 22A) in 63 games played lead all Arizona forwards this season. Vermette's 56.0 faceoff win percentage is eighth best in the NHL this season.
The St. Agapit, Quebec, native owns the NHL's second-longest active consecutive games played streak at 456 games. The Coyotes named Vermette Team MVP after he led the team with 24 goals last season.
Make no mistake: The Hawks gave up a lot to get Vermette. Klas Dahlbeck was the organization's most NHL ready defenseman, and while I've heard that he was not high on Joel Quenneville's list, he was a top prospect. Couple that with a first-round pick in this year's very deep draft, and the Hawks paid a pretty penny.
In Vermette, the Hawks add one of the league's top two-way centerman. He's a dynamo at the faceoff dot, and can contribute to the powerplay and penalty kill. I believe it's simply a matter of time before Vermette supplants the struggling Brad Richards as the second line center.
In last year's Western Conference Final, the L.A. Kings won the series mainly because of their depth at center. The current lineup of Jonathan Toews, Richards, Vermette, Teuvo Teravainen and Marcus Kruger is a much better group, in all aspects, than 2013's unit of Toews, Handzus, Shaw and Kruger.
This move may mean the demotion of Teravainen, but it's hard to be too upset to see the Hawks going for it full bore. With the Hawks' cap problems that are coming this summer, Teravainen should be a part of things for all 82 games next season. His time will come. In the meantime, the Hawks are all-in and going for another Stanley Cup.
Bowman has had the reputation as hesitant or gunshy when it came to making big trades, but this series of moves should silence his critics -- at least those capable of critical thought.
Jay Zawaski is the executive producer of the Spiegel and Goff Show on 670 The Score and the Blackhawks columnist for CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JayZawaski670.
