A move that felt inevitable for a few seasons now finally came to fruition on Friday afternoon, with the Blackhawks trading 2020 first-round pick Lukas Reichel to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick.
Friday afternoon trade🔔
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 24, 2025
📰 ➡︎ https://t.co/ZDJmEaITvr pic.twitter.com/fF4bIF2DL1
Reichel, who turned 23 in May, played in 174 NHL games across parts of five seasons with the Blackhawks, tallying 58 points (22 G, 36 A). That includes a pair of goals and assists apiece in five games with Chicago this season. Other than that limited sample from the last few weeks, though, Reichel never quite matched the promise he displayed at the end of the 2022-23 season, when he tallied 15 points (7 G, 8 A) in 23 games to close out that season.
Who’s to blame for the ultimate disappointment of Reichel’s tenure in Chicago will likely remain open for discussion without any worthwhile verdict reached. Reichel certainly had his opportunities to prove his worth with the Blackhawks and never did enough in those moments to cement his place with the franchise. But it also seemed like there could’ve been more opportunities afforded to Reichel, along with placing him in situations that could’ve made better use of the skills that he very much has — especially as other players with first-round potential have arrived in Chicago over the last few seasons.
Lukas Reichel, acquired by VAN, is a young depth winger. Very speedy with good hands and has a shown flashes of skill as a rush creator but generally has struggled to make an impact in the past two seasons. Reclamation project. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/L0UbM0LUBK
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 24, 2025
But now it’s over and done with, as Reichel is shipped northwest in exchange for an underwhelming return to cap off an overall underwhelming chapter of a former first-round pick who was supposed to be part of the long-term picture here and instead epitomizes the disappointments that were the primary theme from the first half of this decade of Blackhawks hockey.