Was the Hartman Trade Bad?

Trade deadline day is quite the event in our house. Clayton watched every live stream imaginable to get all the info as soon as possible. He woke up out of a dead sleep to tell me that Ryan Hartman had been traded to Nashville.

Funny thing is, he had been saying just the day before that Hartman wasn't going to be traded....looks like we might have jinxed it! He was thinking that Anisimov and Murphy would be on the chopping block, which we believed would've been the most beneficial to the Hawks. Seems like Stan had other plans.

What The Hawks Got

Nashville didn't get Hartman for cheap. Probably because they seem to think he will be a part of the Nashville team for a while. Hartman and a 2018 fifth-round pick go to Nashville for a first-round and fourth-round picks in 2018 and prospect Victor Ejdsell -- a 22-year-old playing in Sweden. Let's talk about the picks. Chicago NEEDED them! Having 1st round picks is essential for this team at this stage of the game. They've traded away so many picks in the past and this team needs to start working on building up a team under their core players. Because let's be honest, those players aren't going to be around forever....or stellar players forever (as we've already seen in a few guys...).

As for the prospect, I don't know much about him, but I hear good things. That might just be me being optimistic because I'm a Hawks fan, but it seems promising at the moment.

Hartman With the Preds

While many people thought that Hartman might be a solid replacement for Shaw in terms of being an agitator and aggressive, he just struggled to find the balance with the Hawks. As for Nashville...He's going to be perfect there. I think that Hartman had a lot of issues fitting in with Coach Q. I think he is a great player but wasn't what the Hawks were looking for. With Nashville being a little more gritty and aggressive, I think he will excel there. He did get the game-winning goal in his first game with them. He just might be a Stanley Cup Champion after this too. And to be honest, with the Hawks playoff potential looking bleak, I think I'd like to see the Preds win a cup!

Looking to the Future

So the question always is, where do we go from here? Whether the Hawks have a good season or a bad one, we always wonder what is ahead. I'm pretty hip to the whispers around the league, mainly because Clayton is sure to tell me every piece of speculation news, but it's kind of hard to say what's going to happen from here. I think the future is decently bright due to the picks they have on deck and some changes that may occur during the offseason.

But what do you guys think? If you're a Hawks fan, let me know what you'd like to see change. Who are you betting on for the Stanley Cup? And what trades caught you off guard?