The trade which sent Andrew Shaw from Chicago to Montreal caught many by surprise, particularly because it sounded like Shaw and the Blackhawks were closing in on a new contract prior to the trade. It was also surprising because the Blackhawks have made it clear that Shaw was a favorite and recently club president John McDonough commented on just how much Shaw meant to the organization.
Via the Chicago Tribune, McDonough spoke about Shaw and had some pretty interesting comments regarding the skater.
“He’s a wonderful young man. He had an organic grittiness that really struck a nerve with Chicagoans, maybe more than any athlete I’ve been associated with. He really resonated with everybody. Not the most skilled player but the classic overachiever. He got under people’s skin. He represented what people wanted this franchise to embody.”
McDonough praised Shaw thoroughly in the interview, but some of his words were perhaps a bit peculiar. Shaw being described as a “classic overachiever” was meant to sound like a complement, but it instead comes off as a knock on Shaw’s skills. The Canadiens were already roasted for going a bit overboard on their contract for Shaw and now you have his old employer admitting he’s maybe not the best out on the ice.
The phrase “wonderful man” definitely doesn’t sound like a label which belongs on Shaw. It wasn’t long ago he used an obscene gesture and homophobic slur on of the game’s biggest stages. Perhaps that one act shouldn’t define his career, but it’s doubtful many would agree with McDonough’s assessment.
Given all of the praise for Shaw from McDonough, why did the team trade him? Ultimately it came down to money and cap management, but that doesn’t mean the organization wanted to make the move. In fact, McDonough said just about everyone in the front office told him to keep Shaw.
“From the end of the season on, I had workers with hard hats screaming to me from the third floor, ‘Don’t trade (Andrew) Shaw. Wherever you went, people that I would run into said the same thing.”
Will the Canadiens feel the same way about Shaw? Time will tell, but they better hope so considering he’ll carry an annual cap hit of $3.9 million through the 2021-22 season.
