They are in the market for a young second-line center.

The Chicago Blackhawks season has started with some positive and negative takeaways.

A series of bad starts has led to the team falling behind early in games in which were winnable once they found their rhythm.

Once the Blackhawks start playing their game, they are hard on the forecheck and maintain puck possession. The scoring chances have also been coming much easier than last season, though the puck luck has not been.

This has led to players like Philipp Kurashev, who has had only one assist through six games, being scratched against the Vancouver Canucks,

It is apparent that the Blackhawks’ roster is still trying to find their chemistry in these early goings of the season, though one area remains a question mark even after the additions made this summer, the second line center.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported on his 32 Thoughts that the Blackhawks, among other teams, are in the market for a centerman.

Addressing the second-line center position was one of the main areas of concern going into this offseason for the Blackhawks. It was expected that players like Frank Nazar, Andreas Athanasiou, and potentially Philipp Kurashev would end up filling that void.

However, it seems as though the Blackhawks would like to explore the idea of bringing in a young center to anchor the second line for now and the future.

It is mentioned in Friedman’s post that teams are not lining up to trade away their centers right now, so the pickings may end up being slim if there are options out there for the Blackhawks.

If the market opens up with young centers available, there will likely be a bidding war between the multiple teams currently exploring the market. This could lead to an interesting development if the Blackhawks truly go all-in on filling out the second line center spot.

When thinking about the Blackhawks acquiring a center, one question to ask is what exactly they would be looking for on the market.

The known knowledge is that the team would prefer a young center who could become a big piece of the rebuild in Chicago. Ideally, they would want a player who is already established in the NHL as an impactful player but with room to grow even more.

In a perfect world, the player they acquire would also address their need for more size throughout the forwards in the organization. The team has lots of great skating forwards who are on the smaller side, and it is no secret that adding a power-forward type of player is on the wish list for the Blackhawks.

A player who comes to mind as being a potentially great fit for what the team is looking for is Dylan Cozens of the Buffalo Sabres.

The seventh overall pick in 2019 by Buffalo is coming off a setback year where he only scored 18 goals after scoring 31 the year prior.

A player of Cozen’s caliber seems more like a pipe dream for the Blackhawks, as the Sabres are a team working toward making it back to the playoffs. Though, the Sabres and Cozens alike have struggled to start the season with the six-foot-three-inch center only having two assists.

While it is unlikely the Blackhawks end up with a player like Cozens, this archetype of player is one that could benefit the team greatly if they are able to acquire one.

Many will also wonder what makes sense for the Blackhawks to give up in a hypothetical second-line center trade.

To put it simply, the cost will not be cheap. A young top-six center in the NHL is not an oversaturated commodity and teams who have one are probably valuing them pretty highly.

If, hypothetically, a trade were to happen this season, the Blackhawks would most likely have to start by giving up the Toronto Maple Leafs’ first-round pick.

At this point in the rebuild, another late first-round pick’s value is probably better used in a deal to bring in talent in order to take the team to the next step. This would only be the start of the trade, though, as they would likely throw in more of their stocked draft capital in a trade as well.

If the Blackhawks are truly making a push to acquire a second-line center, the possibility arises of them trading a prospect to help the deal go through. Rebuilding teams are never quick to trade away their recently drafted prospects, but a trade like this could call for one.

One possibility as well is that a roster player goes the other way, perhaps someone on the younger side to even out the trade further for the other team. Players like Lukas Reichel come to mind, whose future in Chicago has been questioned.

The odds of all those assets being moved (first-round pick, extra picks, prospect, roster player) all at once in one trade are slim to none, and the Blackhawks would be giving up a substansial price. But, it does show how many assets the Blackhawks still have if they try and make a trade in the near future.

It will take some time to see how the trade market pans out, but it will be an interesting development to see what Kyle Davidson decides to do regarding this coveted position.