The Chicago Blackhawks are still working the phones as there has been a good amount of interest in Lukas Reichel. According to The Fourth Period, "teams have been calling about Reichel and the Blackhawks have been listening...Chicago is looking to package assets for immediate upgrades."
Chicago has over $20 million in projected cap space for said upgrades, even if they are likely to be short-term. There are a number of teams who could still trade top-6 players this offseason. For the Blackhawks, they may be better to target someone with one year left if the price is cheaper or someone with more than two years remaining on their deal at an increased price.
It is no wonder teams are interested in Reichel as he is a former first-round pick (17th overall) and is 23 years old with over three years of NHL experience. Beside a very short look as the second line center, Reichel has been sort of buried on the fourth line of Chicago, so there is a definite need for a change in scenery, especially with all of the younger talent that might be given a chance pushing for NHL spots soon.
Reichel's best look was in 2022-23 at age 20 when he scored seven goals and 15 points in 23 games while averaging 16:22 that season. It has gone downhill from there as he logged 14:07 two seasons ago and just 11:55 per game last season. He is putting up fourth line numbers, so it won't help him move up the lineup, but in a different situation, he could show his offensive skills and have the breakout that Blackhawks fans had thought was coming.
There are plenty of teams who could give Reichel a better chance than Chicago with a weaker group of young forwards and prospects on their team and in their system. What player the Blackhawks are looking to get back in a package that includes Reichel remains to be seen, but there are also many good prospects in the system and Chicago has five draft picks in the first two rounds next year. Reichel is as good as gone by the trade deadline, but it may happen sooner.
