Duncan Keith Traded to the Edmonton Oilers

In return for the services of Duncan Keith, the Blackhawks acquired Caleb Jones and a third-round pick from the Oilers. While Blackhawks fans will dearly miss Duncan Keith for all the things he brought to Chicago on the ice it is one of the necessary moves to benefit the Blackhawks in their ongoing rebuild. 

How Do The Chicago Blackhawks Benefit From The Trade?

Well, the benefits for the Blackhawks are pretty clear. For starters, they rid themselves of the now horrible contract of Duncan Keith’s. On December 3rd, 2009 Keith signed a 13 season contract starting during the 2010-2011. His contract was worth 72 million dollars which equates to $5,538,462 per season. He still has two seasons left on this contract and Edmonton will have to pay for all of the 37-year-olds remainder of the contract.

Second of all the Blackhawks benefit by acquiring yet another draft pick to add to their prospect. As part of the trade, the Blackhawks acquired a third-round pick that has the ability to turn into a second-round pick. If the Oilers make the Stanley Cup Finals during the 2021-2022 season and Keith is in the Oilers top-four defenseman for time on ice then the pick will be upgraded from a second to third-round pick. 

The second piece of the trade is Caleb Jones joining the Blackhawks franchise. The younger brother of Seth Jones may be more important to the Blackhawks than as just a player. He could be used as a bargaining chip to acquire his brother. The Blackhawks have apparently been one of the teams that are very interested in trading for Seth Jones and now having his brother may be a very important thing to give them the advantage to recruit Seth Jones to Chicago. 

So far in Caleb Jones’ career, he has played 93 games in his NHL career for the Oilers. He has just five goals and 14 assists for 19 points in his career. At just 24-years-old the new Blackhawks defenseman hopefully has some untapped potential that the Blackhawks can discover. 

How Do The Edmonton Oilers Benefit From The Trade?

The other side of the trade has the Edmonton Oilers acquiring a former Norris trophy winner in Duncan Keith and a prospect by the name of Tim Soderlund. Now Keith is not the same player he was back when he won his two James Norris Memorial Trophy Winner, three-time all-star, Conn Smythe Trophy Winner, and his three Stanley Cup Champions. 

Nevertheless, Keith will be a valuable presence on the Oilers blueline as he adds a much-needed veteran presence to a relatively young Oilers team. This past season Keith played 54 regular-season games and scored four goals to go along with his 11 assists. He also finished with a dismal -13 plus/minus rating. Hopefully, with a more competitive Oilers team, Keith will be able to rebound and live up to the value of his contract. 

Dailyfaceoff currently, has Duncan Keith listed on the 2nd pairing next to Evan Bouchard. Keith’s veteran presence will help grow and mature Bouchard into the top-tier defenseman that the Oilers desired him to be when they drafted him 10th overall in the 2018 NHL draft. 

The second piece of the trade is the Edmonton Oilers acquiring Tim Soderlund. Soderlund is a former fourth-round pick of the Blackhawks. He has played just 23 games for the Rockford Icehogs of the AHL during the 2021 season. Contributing just five assists Soderlund doesn"t seem like the most intriguing of prospects. We shall see if he ever turns into an NHL player.

Who Wins the Duncan Keith Trade?

In my opinion, the Blackhawks have won the Duncan Keith trade since they were able to clear up some much-needed cap space, keep adding to their stockpile of draft picks, and add some young depth to their blueline. While they do lose the trade in my opinion the Oilers do benefit as they add another legit NHL defenseman to an already strong team. Hopefully, both teams benefit from the trade but time will tell who the real winner of the trade is. 

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