On the surface, the Chicago Blackhawks trading Michal Kempny to Washington on Monday was in line with past moves involving players who don’t pan out with the Blackhawks. Stan Bowman acquires said player, hoping for some cost efficiency and solid play, the athlete either struggles or isn’t trusted by coach Joel Quenneville (or both), and the skater is summarily shipped away.
The Blackhawks have done this most often with defensemen. There was a point not long ago when Trevor Daley turned into Rob Scuderi, who turned into Christian Ehrhoff.