Jack Johnson’s suspicions escalated right before the Blackhawks departed on their three-game West Coast road trip in the last week of February. He had surmised seven months ago when he signed a one-year deal that he might not finish the 2022-23 season with Chicago.
It became a lot easier to read the tea leaves after the message he got.
“Before the trip, my agent told me to pack a ‘deadline bag,'” Johnson said Monday.
So the 36-year-old defenseman packed more than he ordinarily would. Before the Blackhawks could play the second game of the trip, Johnson was on a flight to Denver, on a path to a reunion with the team that got him his first Stanley Cup ring.