Mere hours after placing Jiri Sekac on waivers, the Blackhawks are reportedly losing interest in acquiring Dan Hamhuis in advance of the February 29th trade deadline. The news was broke by the godfather of hockey, Bob McKenzie…

This, just a day after being connected to not only Dan Hamhuis, but Radim Vrbata as well. The acquisition of Andrew Ladd and subsequent cost are the likely culprits here, although, it’s interesting that they’ve withdrawn given they have the cap space to accommodate such a move.

Of note is McKenzie’s assertion that the Blackhawks are still looking to pursue depth options. The Canucks have several of those, including Yannick Weber, Matt Bartkowski and Alex Biega – to name a few. Have to think the latter is off the table with Biega’s contract extension running two seasons past this one, but the former two are absolutely in play. 

The Blackhawks can afford one of Bartkowski or Weber without much contractual juggling, but if the Canucks are looking to extract anything resembling an impactful return, it would be in their best interests to take one of Chicago’s dead weight contracts off their hands. Bryan Bickell jumps to the front, with one year past this one at an AAV of $4-million. A few less substantial options include Jay Harrison (acquired as part of the Ladd trade) or Rob Scuderi.

Whatever the case, don’t expect much in return from the Blackhawks unless they circle the wagon on Hamhuis. Certainly not Nick Schmaltz and definitely not Ville Pokka. A draft pick would be nice, though.