It was clear after the recent road trip in Canada - where the Blackhawks went 1-4-0 - that they'd be sellers at the deadline. It was even clearer when defenseman Erik Gustafsson was held out of Friday's 2-1 overtime win over the Nashville Predators and didn't join the Hawks on their current road trip for precautionary reasons.
After seeing them fall further in the standings and get whatever they could for Gustafsson and goalie Robin Lehner ahead of Monday's deadline, it's painfully obvious that win now is a mentality of the past.
The Hawks traded Lehner to the Vegas Golden Knights in a complicated deal.
Chicago sent Lehner to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for winger Martins Dzierkals, a 22-year-old unsigned draft pick. Lehner and Dzierkals were then traded to Vegas, netting the Blackhawks goaltender Malcolm Subban, defenseman prospect Slava Demin and Vegas' second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
Lehner, 28, was a Vezina Trophy finalist last year with the New York Islanders and was 16-10-5 as a Hawk this season with a 3.01 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and zero shutouts.
The Hawks also traded defenseman Erik Gustafsson to the Calgary Flames for a third-round pick. Gustafsson was having a down year after producing 60 points last season. Rookie Adam Boqvist had been taking his role on the power play's top unit as well.
Both Lehner and Gustafsson become unrestricted free agents this summer.
NHL
For Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman, this past deadline was about getting what he could for players who could walk in the offseason.
"The draft and the young players are the life blood of your team and you're trying to balance the present with the future," Bowman told NBC Sports Chicago in an exclusive interview after the deadline. "Certainly, when you trade players away, it's hard to do and I understand it's a challenge and you have to make some hard decisions, but when you choose to do that and go down that road I think you have to bring back more than one piece that can help you in years to come.
"We feel good, that getting a second and a third and a prospect is going to help take us where we need to get to over the coming years."
The moves and the comments signal where the Hawks are now, rebuilding - not rebuilding entirely - but collecting picks and young players for the future who will play with and learn from veterans like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Corey Crawford, who have plenty of good hockey left in them.
Rookies Dominik Kubalik (forward), Kirby Dach (forward) and Adam Boqvist (defenseman) have all had strong debut seasons with Chicago and look to have a big impact on the future. Kubalik, the most impressive of the trio, leads all NHL rookies in goals with 26.
"I think the long-term picture looks much better," Bowman said.
As hard it was to fathom the Hawks not adding pieces to make another run at the deadline for two straight years, it may be even harder to be a patient spectator of the remodeling.
The Hawks could sell more assets for a brighter future in the offseason as well.
The good news is that help is on the way, and that some of the veterans who've always been able to lend a hand never left.
Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Blackhawks easily on your device.