Trade Deadline Recap: Hogs Make Key Moves

This season’s NHL trade deadline was one of the busiest ever for the Rockford IceHogs and their NHL affiliate, the Chicago Blackhawks. Since the Blackhawks traded for Hunter Drew on Feb. 23, the IceHogs have completed 35 roster transactions in a nine-day span, including gaining five players via trade and sending six players away in trades. For reference, the IceHogs completed seven transactions in the same time frame last season.

Perhaps most notably for Rockford, the IceHogs picked up one of the league’s leading scorers from the San Diego Gulls in Rocco Grimaldi.

Let’s take a look back at the two weeks leading up to the trade deadline on Mar. 3.

Feb. 23 After registering a career season with 50 points (24G, 26A) in 51 games for the IceHogs, David Gust was released from his Rockford SPC and signed an NHL contract with the Blackhawks.

Feb. 23 After injuries to defenseman Alec Regula, Jakub Galvas, and Cliff Watson, and with Brett Seney, David Gust, and Isaak Phillips all called up to the Blackhawks, the IceHogs plucked defenseman Andrew Perrott and forward Cameron Hillis from the ECHL’s Indy Fuel to bolster the roster.

Feb. 23 The next day, the Hawks orchestrated a trade that sent Josiah Slavin to the Anaheim Ducks organization in exchange for Hunter Drew. Slavin had been with Rockford for parts of three seasons and skated in 115 IceHogs games since 2020.

Feb. 24 The IceHogs signed defenseman Nolan Valleau to a PTO.

Feb. 26 Rockford recalled defenseman Koletrane Wilson from the Indy Fuel.

Feb. 27 The following afternoon, the Blackhawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs completed a trade that sent Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty, a 2024 5^th round pick, and a 2025 5^th round pick to Toronto. The Blackhawks received Joey Anderson and Pavel Gogolev from the Maple Leafs, along with a 2025 1^st round pick and a 2026 2^nd round pick. Anderson stayed with Chicago while Gogolev reported immediately to Rockford and made his IceHogs debut on Mar. 3 against the Belleville Senators.

Feb. 27 The IceHogs traded future considerations to the Manitoba Moose for Colin Bilek who was subsequently loaned down to the Indy Fuel in the ECHL.

Feb. 28 One of the biggest trades of the deadline came a day later on Feb. 28 when the Blackhawks dealt Patrick Kane to the New York Rangers. Chicago recouped a 2023 2^nd rounder and a 2025 4^th rounder, along with the NHL contract of Andy Welinski. Welinski joined Rockford on the team’s Canadian road trip and played in his first IceHogs contest on Mar. 3 in Belleville. Defenseman Cooper Zech was also sent to New York in the deal after skating in 13 games games with Rockford.

Feb. 28 In a follow up deal at the AHL level between the Chicago and New York Rangers organizations, Rockford traded veteran defenseman Adam Clendening to the Hartford Wolf Pack in exchange for Zach Jordan. Clendening left Rockford as the team’s all-time assist leader with 143 and the all-time leader in points by a defenseman at 172 (29G, 143A). Jordan reported immediately to Indy.

Mar. 2 The day before the deadline, Rockford traded forward Carson Gicewicz to the Rochester Americans for future considerations.

Mar. 2 That same day, the Blackhawks and Ducks organizations organized a string of trades that brought San Diego’s leading scorer, Rocco Grimaldi, to the IceHogs in exchange for future considerations. At the time of the trade, Grimaldi ranked sixth in league scoring with 56 points (27G, 29A) for the Gulls. Forward Logan Nijhoff also arrived in the trade from San Diego and was immediately loaned to Indy.

Mar. 2 At the NHL level, Chicago sent Dylan Sikura to Anaheim in exchange for Maxim Golod. Sikura had worn an “A” for Rockford while posting 32 points (14G, 18A) in his third season with the team. Golod reported immediately to Indy.

Mar. 2 Late on Thursday evening, Chicago sent star forward Max Domi to the Dallas Stars in exchange for netminder Anton Khudobin and his $3.33 million cap hit. Goaltender Dylan Wells was also sent to Dallas in the trade after earning a 9-6-1-0 record, 2.96 goals-against average, and .905 save percentage with Rockford this season. Khudobin was added to the Rockford roster the next day.

Mar. 3 Both Lukas Reichel and Joey Anderson were loaned down to Rockford from Chicago and subsequently returned on loan. The transaction allows the pair to play with Rockford for the 2022-23 Calder Cup Playoffs.

Rockford Acquired

Rocco Grimaldi (27G, 29A)

Andy Welinski* (4G, 12A)

Hunter Drew* (5G, 6A)

Pavel Gogolev* (0G, 0A, two games played)

Anton Khudobin* (13-4-3-1, 2.89 GAA, .899 SV%)

Colin Bilek

Zach Jordan

Logan Nijhoff

Maxim Golod

Rockford Sent Away

Josiah Slavin*

Adam Clendening

Dylan Sikura*

Carson Gicewicz

Cooper Zech*

*NHL Trade

The IceHogs take on the Laval Rocket tonight at 7 p.m. at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec.