Coach Jeremy Colliton called it an “organizational decision” to scratch Janmark in order to avoid injury and protect his value ahead of the deadline Monday.
Mattias Janmark will be a healthy scratch for the Blackhawks’ game Saturday against the Blue Jackets.
The Hawks are expected to trade Janmark, a pending free agent, before Monday’s 2 p.m. CT deadline and won’t play him in order to avoid injury and protect his value.
Coach Jeremy Colliton called it an “organizational decision to hold him out.” He could fetch something close to a third-round pick or ‘B’-grade prospect in return. He tallied 19 points in 41 games with the Hawks.
“A lot of teams are dealing with stuff like this,” Colliton added. “It’s the time of year. Obviously you address it [to the team], depending on the situation. The message is [to] focus on what you can control.”
Scratching players anticipating trades has been a popular strategy around the NHL this year. Over the past week, the Devils did it with Kyle Palmieri, the Sabres did it with Taylor Hall and the Blue Jackets did it with David Savard. Palmieri was quickly traded to the Islanders, Savard reportedly will be dealt to the Lightning on Saturday and Hall will likely have a new home by Monday.
Meanwhile, Brett Connolly and Riley Stillman — the Hawks’ additions from their trade Thursday — have joined the Hawks and skated with the scratches and taxi squad Saturday.
“[We’ll] just try to get them up to speed so that as much as possible they can prepare so when they do get in, they can play on instinct,” Colliton said. “They’ll skate today with the other guys who aren’t playing, get their legs going and go from there.”
Strome relates to Borgstrom
Henrik Borgstrom, the biggest piece of that Thursday Hawks trade — even if he won’t be seen in Chicago until next season — will get a chance to revive his career after flaming out with the Panthers.
Dylan Strome knows exactly what that feels like. The 2015 third overall selection by the Coyotes, he never found his rhythm in Arizona, playing more AHL games than NHL games. But his November 2018 trade to the Hawks allowed him to grow him into the solid NHL player he is now.
“It changed my career around pretty heavily,” Strome said Saturday. “It wasn’t going too well in Arizona for a while. You get around a new group, new set of faces, new coaches, new everything. It gives you another lease on life.”
He can imagine the same change of scenery aiding Borgstrom.
“It’s the same for a lot of young players,” he said. “You get traded by the team you got drafted by, and they’ve seen you for so long at so many rookie camps, development camps, main camps, and exhibition games. I got to Chicago and you’re in the lineup right away the next day before they even see you. You’ve got to start fresh again and show them what you’ve got. It can work well for a lot of players.”
Kampf could be moved, too
Borgstrom’s addition seemingly pushes David Kampf out of a protection spot for this summer’s Seattle expansion draft.
The Hawks will likely choose Alex DeBrincat, Brandon Hagel, Alex Nylander, Strome and Borgstrom in addition to Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane (whose no-movement clauses require protection) as their seven protected forwards.
So the Hawks could consider trading Kampf in the coming days. TSN moved Kampf up to 25th on their Trade Bait list Saturday. A source said at least two teams have shown interest.
Kampf has zero goals this season but is strong defensively, on the penalty kill and on faceoffs. He’s allowed the second-fewest opponent shot attempts among Hawks forwards this season.