Blackhawks Blue Line Could Use Zellweger If the Ducks Make Him Available

Over this past season, I’ve been a big believer in the fact that Chicago Blackhawks general manager (GM) Kyle Davidson needs to upgrade the roster to help in the present.

More names will continue to become available as time goes on, much like Dylan Larkin. However, a name Davidson should consider is Anaheim Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger.

Throughout the season, there was a slight logjam in the defensive core for the Ducks, which led to Pavel Mintyukov requesting a trade. Now that Mintyukov got a bigger role during the playoffs for the Ducks, I think that situation has changed.

I think the defenseman who ended up getting squeezed out for most of the playoffs was Zellweger, and he is a restricted free agent (RFA).

Why the Blackhawks Are a Fit

Zellweger is a great buy-low candidate with tremendous upside, and while it wouldn’t be a player in the prime of their career, it would just add to the young core that the Blackhawks have built over the past few seasons.

He’s a fantastic skater, which is what you need to win in the NHL. If you watched the playoffs this season, the ongoing theme is how quick the league is now. I think the Blackhawks have done a good job of building their team with such strong skaters.

Zellweger would pair well with guys like Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel and Wyatt Kaiser, who are all very good skaters, making an extremely mobile blue line.

He is also very good at advancing the puck and creates a lot of opportunities while on the ice, even with the limited ice time. This season, he was able to post an expected goals per 60 minutes of 3.18 and won his expected goals share regardless of whether he was valued by the coaching staff or not.

Zellweger also spent time playing on both the power play and penalty kill for the Ducks, and isn’t a bad shot blocker either.

He does struggle on the physical side of the game, which could be an issue at times, but as long as Davidson is able to build a blue line built with most guys who aren’t scared of the physicality, it shouldn’t be an issue.

The 22-year-old also has upside that he hasn’t fully tapped into quite yet, which means he also fits the window for the Blackhawks in the future.

Another big part of why this acquisition makes sense is that the Blackhawks would be acquiring a young, talented defenseman at a low cost in terms of value. With all the factors I mentioned before, with him being an RFA, as well as his being squeezed out of the blue line, you wouldn’t be giving up too much.

Above is an image of how much you’d have to pay to sign an RFA to an offer sheet. In terms of what it would cost to sign Zellweger, I’m assuming you’d be able to get him to sign an offer sheet to something around $3 million.

You could potentially try to bargain your way down to the max amount of money in the third-round pick slot, but with the cap rising, people are already signing deals to shocking amounts of money. For example, Timothy Liljegren just signed an extension with the Washington Capitals with an annual average value (AAV) of $3.25 million.

If they agree on $3 million, that would, of course, cost you a second-round pick, and NHL rules specify that you have to use your own picks in the offer sheet compensation. The good news is that not only do the Blackhawks have their own second-round pick in 2027, but they also have the Vancouver Canucks’ second-round pick.

I think using one of your second-round picks as a bet on Zellweger would be worth it when you already have more than one bullet to use in the second round.

Another option would be to possibly work out a deal with Anaheim prior to free agency for his signing rights. The reason I mention this is that not only do the Blackhawks have their own second in the 2026 draft, but they have the Toronto Maple Leafs’ and New York Islanders’ picks on top of that as well.

If you could send one of the three second-round picks to Anaheim and add a later pick on top of that as compensation for getting his signing rights early, I think that would be a good deal.

Acquiring Zellweger could be a little bit risky, but the Blackhawks already have so many picks and prospects; this is a bet I’d make.