When Adam Gaudette joined the Chicago Blackhawks at he NHL Trade Deadline, the sense was that he had a higher offensive upside than Matthew Highmore and room to grow his game, whereas Highmore had pretty much topped-out what he could be at the NHL level. He was coming off the NHL’s COVID protocol list as the Vancouver Canucks dealt with the biggest outbreak any team in the league had seen this season. Rumors swirled around the Canucks that Gaudette was “patient zero” for the P.1 variant outbreak and that is what led to him being traded to the Blackhawks.