Chicago Blackhawks trade-deadline tracker: Former Anaheim Ducks forward Hunter Drew reports to Rockford

The NHL’s March 3 trade deadline is a week away and the phones at front offices are heating up.

The Tribune is tracking all of the Chicago Blackhawks’ arrivals and departures, with insight along the way.

The Hawks on Thursday traded 2018 seventh-round pick Josiah Slavin to the Anaheim Ducks for fellow forward Hunter Drew. Drew, 24, will report to the Rockford IceHogs.

The 6-foot-2, 213-pound forward had five goals and six assists in 44 games with the AHL San Diego Gulls this season.

The Ducks drafted Drew in the sixth round in 2018, 15 picks ahead of Slavin — but as a defenseman. Drew spent some time at forward for the Gulls in 2020-21, but that summer the team asked him to convert.

“It was kind of like, ‘We have a lot of defensemen, not a lot of room,’ and obviously I played (forward) for half the year last year,” Drew told the team website in February 2022.

Said then-coach Joel Bouchard: “At one point, he realized his attributes help him to have a progression into pro hockey as a forward. You can see his attributes — his shot, puck skill, he can see players behind the first line of defense where he can execute.”

Drew and Slavin are both 24 andhave a right-handed shot, and Drew is an inch shorter at 6-foot-2, but he brings more a bit more heft at 213 pounds compared with Slavin’s 190.

Drew made his debut for the Ducks on April 26, 2022, on the road against the San Jose Sharks, one of only two NHL games. But he spent the bulk of last season in San Diego and registered career highs in goals (17) and assists (21) in 64 games.

Slavin last season played 15 games for the Blackhawks and had one assist. He had 18 goals and 14 assists in 49 games for the IceHogs last season and three goals and assists in 51 games this season.

The Blackhawks acquired a 2023 second-round pick in exchange for taking on the $4.5 million salary-cap hit of the Ottawa Senators defenseman in a trade announced Wednesday. The Hawks also will receive a 2026 fourth-round pick and will give the Senators future considerations.

Zaitsev’s contract runs through next season, and shedding him frees up space for the Senators to potentially extend the contract of former Hawks winger Alex DeBrincat, an upcoming restricted free agent.

The 6-foot-2, 192-pound Zaitsev has played only 28 games this season because of a lower-body injury and has no goals, five assists and a minus-5 rating. Read more here.

By most indications, Kane wants a trade and the Blackhawks want to trade him, but there appears to be a disconnect between the parties on how to get that done.

General manager Kyle Davidson, who has launched a deep rebuild, has every reason to want to ship Kane to a contender for early-round draft picks.

Like longtime teammate Jonathan Toews, Kane has a no-movement clause in his contract, which expires after the season. Toews’ trade value all but evaporated Sunday with news that long-term COVID-19 symptoms will keep him sidelined indefinitely.

However, Kane has let it be known he has a shortlist of trade destinations that places the emphasis on “short.” Read more here.