Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman made it clear after being swept in the playoffs that major changes were going to be made. With salary cap issues, aging players and now Marian Hossa's medical condition the team needed to shake some things up. So far he has lived up to his word. This morning saw some major moves made by Bowman which raised a lot of eyebrows and has created a lot of talks.

Hjalmarsson to Arizona

The first major move announced was the trade of longtime defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson to the Arizona Coyotes for Connor Murphy and Laurent Dauphin (both defenseman).

Hjalmarsson (29) spent his entire nine-year NHL career with the Blackhawks, scoring 23 goals with 120 assists.

He was known for hit shot-blocking which he did very well, averaging 132 blocks in his career and has had more than 140 blocked shots since 2011-2012. He has been part of all three cup teams under Rocky Wirtz and Joel Quenneville (2010, 2013, 2015).

The Blackhawks get Connor Murphy (24) who is probably the highlight of the package coming back is a young defenseman which a bit more "grit". This is something Bowman mentioned as being a goal for the team moving forward, a bit less finesse and more quick physical/grind play. He has played with the Coyotes since coming up in 2013-2014 and 13 goals and 36 assists in 258 NHL games.

While he was a -13 last year, he played on a bad Coyotes team while still growing as an NHL defenseman.

Laurent Dauphin does not have as much experience. At age 22 he has only played 32 NHL games and has three goals and one assist.

Harder to know what to expect from him, but time will tell.

Saad returns and Panarin exits

The Blackhawks world exploded when 25-year old Russian star Artemi Panarin was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for former Hawk star Brandon Saad. The trade also involved goaltender Anton Forsberg, and a 2018 pick going to Chicago and Blackhawks prospect Tyler Motte and one of their picks going to Columbus.

Panarin (25) came over from Russia in 2015-2016 and in two years with the Blackhawks scored 61 goals and 90 assists as he skated alongside Patrick Kane on the same line for the most part. "The Bread Man" is a fantastic scorer that has a great shot and solid puck handling; won the 2015-2016 Calder Trophy.

He had two more seasons remaining on his contract with a $6 million cap hit each remaining two years and affording him after the contract expires did not seem likely. But regardless it is a great talent going to Columbus.

Brandon Saad (24) coming back to Chicago is big. He came up full-time with the Blackhawks in 2013 where he would win two cups in three years before being traded to Columbus after the 2015 season.

He made an immediate impact both offensively and defensively showing the skills as a "Mini-Hossa" as some called him.

He scored 52 goals as a member of the Hawks in his first stint with 126 points as him and Captain Jonathan Toews really played well together. Plus he scored 15 goals and had 18 assists in four playoff seasons with Chicago; three years they made it to the Western Conference Finals and two which they won the Stanley Cup. With four more years of control on his deal, it makes for a better long-term solution.

What is to come

This is not the last of the Blackhawks moves.

There is still a draft to take care of with more trades and signings. Probably more defensemen will be pursued in the draft as well as more goaltending depth, which greatly lacks in the organization right now. Plus with losing Marian Hossa to his skin condition, that can affect how the salary cap plays out depending on if Hossa goes on inactive reserve or retires.

There is still cap issues to be handled which basically guarantees more deals. Outside Toews and Kane and probably Crawford, Panik and Keith, there are still possibilities for anyone else to be traded.
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