The Chicago Blackhawks have acquired Taylor Hall and the rights to Nick Foligno from the Boston Bruins in exchange for Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula. Hall will be joining his fifth team in the last five years after he spent the first six seasons with the Edmonton Oilers. He has 264 goals and 429 assists for 693 points in 822 games. Foligno will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, as his previous two-year deal came to an end after this season. The 35-year-old winger has 215 goals and 310 assists for 525 points in 1,081 games. For the Bruins, this clears out $6 million in cap space over the next two years and allows them to now shift their focus to signing Tyler Bertuzzi, who they acquired from the Detroit Red Wings at the trade deadline. Ian Mitchell is a 24-year-old defenceman who’s spent the past three years playing for the Blackhawks and Rockford Ice Hogs of the AHL. Regula has spent the majority of his time with the Icehogs over the past three seasons, and has 22 NHL games under his belt. Chicago is certainly in a rebuilding stage, as they’ve lost both Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane this off-season, however, the Blackhawks are making noise and could find themselves back in contention next season as they also hold the first overall pick in the upcoming draft as they are expected to take Connor Bedard. There is a lot of talk that Hall and Connor Bedard could possibly be playing on the same line. Foligno, if he decides to sign with the Hawks, would add some veteran presence to what is expected to be a very young Blackhawks roster.
