NHL Rumors: Blackhawks' Top Defenceman To Be Traded Sooner Than Expected

A name that has gotten lost in the shuffle of trade discussions for the Chicago Blackhawks is Seth Jones. Since he was just signed to an eight-year deal before last season and before things went south quickly, it was imagined he would be impossible to move. But since the salary cap is expected to rise up significantly over the next couple of seasons, the option to trade the defencemen looks to become available.

The Blackhawks have cleared out any player they can so far in order to tank for Connor Bedard this season and dive head first into a rebuild. It may be an extreme rebuild, but it doesn't work completely with star players hanging around. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are already almost good as gone by the trade deadline this season, but Jones is one to keep an eye on.

The team will not likely be able to trade Jones this season, but his cap hit won't look so bad in a few years when there is expected to be an extra $5-10 million cap space for each team. He is still under contract for seven more seasons after the 2022-23 season. So instead of being forced to hold onto Jones throughout the rebuild, they should realistically be able to trade the defenceman within 2-3 years. This will help the team significantly since they would also be able to retain some cap and get a better return.