Yahoo Sports Blackhawks Trade Isaak Phillips to Jets
The Chicago Blackhawks have made a minor league deal with the Winnipeg Jets and traded defenseman Isaak Phillips in exchange for Dmitry Kuzmin.
At first glance, this may seem like an odd trade for the Blackhawks to make, but there are some elements that make sense. Kuzmin hasn't played a game in the NHL while Phillips has played 56 NHL games across the past four seasons.
Phillips may have the experience, but he is also 23 years old and Kuzmin is only 21. Kuzmin was drafted in the third round (82nd) in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft while Phillips was selected by the Blackhawks in 2020 in the fifth round (141st).
Neither of the two involved in the deal are much of offensive players even though Phillips did put up 10 goals and 25 points in 64 games in the 2021-22 season with the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. He has two goals and 12 points in the NHL while producing 23 goals and 79 points in 199 career AHL games.
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Kuzmin has recorded two goals and nine points in 39 games in the AHL, all with the Manitoba Moose. What I believe to be a big reason for the the Blackhawks to make this trade, other than getting younger and giving Phillips a chance elsewhere before the team might lose him on waivers is Kuzmin was the defense partner of Artyom Levshunov at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship Division 1 tournament where the pair won a gold medal with Team Belarus.
Levshunov should be hanging around in the AHL for at least another year, so he will have a running mate down there and re-create some of the chemistry and create more comfortability.
You never know and it's early for the 21-year-old Kuzmin, but it will be tough to crack this Blackhawks' defense group once all of the talented young defensemen develop and fill out the ranks. He might just be an AHLer for his time with the organization, but we'll have to wait and see.
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