Chicago’s not done yet!
It looks like the Chicago Blackhawks took our advice here at SCH: Max Domi is being traded to the Dallas Stars.
Interestingly, the Stars are in Chicago to face the Blackhawks on Thursday night — a game in which Domi was sure he would be in the Blackhawks lineup for just a few hours ago.
Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported the potential trade first on Thursday afternoon and Eric Engles of Sportsnet followed up with some potential details, though the full package from both teams has not been made official as of yet.
[UPDATE] The terms of the trade were confirmed late Thursday night: Domi and goaltender Dylan Wells in exchange for goaltender Anton Khudobin and a 2025 second-round pick.
Late night trade ‼️ pic.twitter.com/8cLziJ7HOD
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 3, 2023
Domi has 49 points (18 G, 31 A) in 60 games with the Blackhawks, a very solid offensive production rate of 0.82 points per game that was likely enticing to a Stars team that is just 14th in the league in goals per game (3.21). He should be especially useful to the Stars’ power play — which is 12th in the league at 22.6 percent — as he’s produced eight goals and 10 assists with the man-advantage while with Chicago this season. Domi also had a three-point game against the Stars in Dallas last week.
Just to note, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times mentioned that he wouldn’t be surprised if Domi re-signed with the Blackhawks in the offseason due to how much the winger has liked the organization and city of Chicago. This obviously isn’t a guarantee, but something to watch out for in the summer.
I did ask Domi about that re-signing possibility in January and he said he’d be open to it but…
“There’s a lot of other things that go into a discussion other than just yes or no. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 2, 2023
The specific day of the trade is also interesting, considering this tweet from the Blackhawks’ official account earlier on Thursday:
Happy Birthday @maxdomi pic.twitter.com/YoPJJfwxsZ
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 2, 2023
Yes, Max Domi just turned 28.
Khudobin, 36, is a veteran goaltender who has spent the entire 2022-23 season in the AHL playing with the Texas Stars. He currently has a .899 save-percentage and 2.89 goals against average in 24 AHL games. The last time Khudobin got significant playing time in the NHL was with Dallas in 2020-21 when he had a .905 save-percentage and 2.54 goals against average in 32 NHL games. He is in the final year of his contract.
The Stars needed to move Khudobin’s contract to make the trade work. From the Blackhawks perspective, this pick-up can be injury insurance for Petr Mrazek and/or Alex Stalock, as well as a veteran addition for the Rockford IceHogs as they push for the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs.