CHICAGO — Could the Chicago Blackhawks have gotten more in Friday’s NHL blockbuster trade? Probably.

How much more than a third-round draft pick? Probably not enough for Blackhawks fans to get that worked up.

The Blackhawks always sought to trade Taylor Hall before the deadline. There was once a hope by the Blackhawks that they could get a second-rounder for Hall. That expectation faded over the last few months as Hall’s production declined. He had played himself into a fourth-line role recently.

Despite that, there still seemed to be some interest in Hall considering his past play and that he had produced in the Stanley Cup playoffs not that long ago for the Boston Bruins. The consensus among scouts was Hall would bring back a third- or fourth-round pick with an additional expectation the Blackhawks would retain half of his $6 million cap hit. A team would be willing to bring Hall on as a potential depth scorer if it wasn’t on the hook for his entire cap hit.

That scenario sort of played out Friday. But instead of the Blackhawks eating $3 million of Hall’s cap hit, they took on $4.625 million of someone else’s. The Blackhawks sent Hall and his entire cap hit to the Carolina Hurricanes and became a third-team broker in another part of the deal by taking on half of Mikko Rantanen’s $9.25 million cap hit, enabling the Colorado Avalanche to send Rantanen to the Hurricanes.

Yes, the additional $1.625 million isn’t nothing, and the Avalanche and the Hurricanes needed the Blackhawks to make the trade. And, again, the Blackhawks could have pushed for a bit more or waited to see whether they got something more closer to the deadline, but it’s apparent Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson’s action to make the trade has more to do with where the organization is in its rebuild.

The Blackhawks aren’t taking on outside prospects at this point. They already have probably too many of their prospects coming in over the next few years and might have to make some tough decisions soon not to sign or re-sign prospects. An abundance of prospects was always the motivation for how Davidson went about his rebuild. They’re flush with them. Seeking a prospect sweetener wouldn’t make sense in the big picture. It’s also unlikely the Hurricanes or Avalanche were going to give up someone who could make a dent in the Blackhawks’ prospects.

Asking for one of the team’s NHL players wouldn’t have made much sense. The Blackhawks’ motivation to move Hall was largely to open up a roster spot. With Ryan Greene, Oliver Moore and Sam Rinzel likely to turn pro after their college seasons, Davidson knows he needs a few NHL roster spots to give them ice time at the end of the season. Especially with Greene, who is a college junior, the Blackhawks want to ensure him there is an NHL path for him now and in the future. Creating that roster spot now instead of holding off to see what might happen probably wasn’t worth it for Davidson. Whatever he might have given up by not waiting isn’t likely significant enough to cause much regret in the long run.

So, that leaves negotiations over a draft pick for the Blackhawks. The Hurricanes were already moving their 2025 second-round pick to the Avalanche as part of the deal, so that was out of the picture. The Hurricanes possessed two 2025 third-round picks, their own and the Blackhawks’. The Blackhawks had traded their 2025 third-round pick to the Hurricanes for the Hurricanes’ 2024 third-round pick in June. With the 2024 selection, the Blackhawks took Jack Pridham, who has been a pleasant surprise this season.

Considering the Blackhawks will likely finish 31st or 32nd in the standings, their 2025 third-round pick will end up being near the top of the round. Although it’s not technically a second-round pick, the Blackhawks won’t be far off. They’ll have that early third-round pick, two first-round picks and two second-round picks to give them five selections in the first 75 picks. Like last year, Davidson could package some of those to move around in the draft.

There will likely be more immediate pressure on Davidson, and every aspect of his trades can be dissected. The Blackhawks aren’t there yet. It’s about the major details, not the minor ones, as the rebuild moves forward. From the Blackhawks’ perspective, Greene’s, Moore’s and Rinzel’s futures are more important than anything else in Friday’s three-way blockbuster trade. Davidson accomplished what was important to him Friday.

OT loss to Lightning

The Blackhawks’ future is slowly taking shape. Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar have looked good together. They combined for a goal in Friday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Colton Dach scored his first NHL goal and has shown signs of being a potential future piece. Lukas Reichel is coming around again. The defense included four players 23 years old or younger Friday. Meanwhile, 19-year-old Artyom Levshunov and Kevin Korchinski, 20, are still in Rockford and are expected to be key players in the coming years. In addition to Greene, Moore and Rinzel, the Blackhawks are expected to add Nick Lardis, Martin Misiak, Dominic James, and Aidan Thompson to the talent pool next season. Roman Kantserov, one of the KHL’s top young players, and Sacha Boisvert, one of the NCAA’s top freshmen, aren’t that far away either. Plus, there is another top-three pick likely coming in June.

In some ways, this all might feel like spinning Friday’s trade to what the Blackhawks were doing in recent years, but it’s the reality. You can be upset with the route the Blackhawks went on their rebuild. That’s fair. But the path chosen was almost entirely dependent on drafting a lot of high-end prospects and developing them into mid- to high-end NHL players. That has remained Davidson’s focus in all of his decisions. Friday’s trade was another example of that.