One of the biggest value acquisitions this off-season is the Chicago Blackhawks trading for Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno.  Both are significant additions who offer veteran leadership and experience to a Blackhawks team that is fresh out of the “tear it down” stage of the rebuild, and the rebuild may be sped up from the Blackhawks winning the Bedard lottery. Hall brings offensive upside. He has had four seasons with at least 1.07 PPG, and this includes his 2017-2018 season in New Jersey, which resulted in him taking home the Hart trophy after posting 1.22 PPG. Hall is coming off of a season where he contributed to the Bruins historic regular season with 5 GWG and a GAR of 6.6. A significant part of Taylor Hall’s game is his ability to draw penalties, last season he was a +2 on drawing penalties according to Evolving Hockey’s SPAR model. 

Foligno brings leadership on and off the ice, having won the Mark Messier Leadership award in 2016-2017. He is a valuable asset who will contribute to Chicago building a successful locker room culture. He brings a physical and strong two-way game. Last season he posted a high GAR of 10.3 while being valued at $8.77M based off of Evolving Hockey’s SPAR model. Foligno is currently on a 1 year/ $4M contract. According to CapFriendly, Foligno will slot in on the 4th line with Corey Perry and Cole Guttman, making it a physical and difficult checking line to play against. 

With these acquisitions Chicago has bolstered their scoring and defensive depth, while also adding leadership and experience to a rebuilding team. Hall will provide scoring chances and powerplay opportunities alongside young star Connor Bedard on the top line. Foligno will fill out the bottom-six, adding grit and a powerful two way game, making Chicago a tougher team to play against. To receive assets for negligible returning value is every franchise’s dream. Hall and Foligno will make a Chicago Blackhawks team who finished 29th in the league in 2022-23 more competitive.