Duncan Keith will be traded to the Edmonton Oilers, reports say, ending a 16-year run with the Chicago Blackhawks
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As unfathomable as it may sound in Chicago, Duncan Keith will end his NHL career wearing something other than a Blackhawks sweater.
A three-time Stanley Cup champion and the senior member of the Hawks at 37, Keith will be traded to the Edmonton Oilers, multiple reports said Monday, closing the chapter on a 16-season run in Chicago.
Keith joins Brent Seabrook, Brandon Saad, Andrew Shaw and Corey Crawford as players departing within the last year who helped the Hawks win at least two Cups.
The Oilers will send defenseman Caleb Jones and a third-round draft pick to the Hawks for Keith, according to reports.
Jones had four assists and a minus-7 rating in 33 games for the Oilers last season. The Arlington, Texas, native and left-handed shooter is the younger brother of Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones and the son of former NBA player Popeye Jones. Caleb Jones was a fourth-round pick in 2015.
Keith carried a $5.538 million annual salary-cap hit for the final two years of his contract, about 6.8% of the Hawks’ cap space, according to CapFriendly.com. The Hawks will retain none of his salary, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported. Jones’ $850,000 contract expires after next season.
Keith’s departure and the addition of Jones kicks off the youth movement on the Hawks blue line in earnest.
The Hawks are pinning much of their hopes on the development of Adam Boqvist, who made strides last season but needs to work on conditioning and aspects of his defense. Young defensemen Ian Mitchell, Nicolas Beaudin and Wyatt Kalynuk saw significant ice time last season and will push during training camp to be included among next season’s regular pairings. Isaak Phillips and Chad Krys are also in the pipeline.
Connor Murphy began assuming a leadership role on and off the ice after he was named an alternate captain early this year. The Hawks also will have Nikita Zadorov in the fold if the sides can reach terms on a contract this summer, as well as Riley Stillman if the Hawks protect him from the expansion draft. The Hawks likely will expose Calvin de Haan to the draft.
Keith’s trade puts him closer to his roots in Western Canada, where he spends his offseasons in Penticton, British Columbia.
A two-time Norris Trophy winner (2010, 2014) as the league’s best defenseman and the 2015 Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the postseason MVP, Keith scored 105 goals and had 520 assists in 1,192 career games for the Hawks.
He led the Hawks in ice time in 2021 for the 13th consecutive season, averaging 23 minutes, 25 seconds in 54 game.
Keith’s trade puts the longtime Hawks player closer to his roots in Western Canada, where he spends his offseasons in Penticton, British Columbia.
Last season, he led the Hawks in ice time for the 13th consecutive season, averaging 23:25 in 54 games.
He had his best season arguably in 2009-10 with career-highs of 14 goals and 55 assists, and matched his career-best with 55 assists. He added a goal and six assists during the Stanley Cup Final against the Philadelphia Flyers, the first title of the three during the Hawks’ six-year “golden age.”
In the following year’s playoffs, Keith scored two goals and added two assists during the Western Conference quarterfinals against the Vancouver Canucks. His second-period goal opened the scoring in a 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning that clinched the 2015 Cup in six games.
For all his accomplishments on the stat sheets, Keith made one of his most indelible impressions on fans on May 23, 2010, when he took a puck to the mouth that knocked out seven teeth, yet kept playing. Keith assisted on a goal to help complete the sweep of the San Jose Sharks and clinch the Hawks’ first trip to the Cup Final since 1992.
“It’s just missing teeth,” Keith said at the time, according to NHL.com. “It’s a long way from the heart.”