"The discussions I did have, everyone agreed that you don't need to try to jam a trade in in the next half-hour before we get going. But we had some brief discussions with a few teams. We all agreed that it will probably pick up as the weeks go on. There will be movement with players around the league over the next two weeks."
Bowman has put defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson on the table, and teams, including the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers, have shown interest towards the 25-year-old.
The GM has also been seen in conversations with Florida Panthers GM Dale Tallon and Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman.
The Hawks keep waiting to see what will happen to highly-coveted free agents Ryan Suter of the Nashville Predators and Zach Parise of the New Jersey Devils, while other targets could be added to their wish list as certain free agents won't be signed to extensions.
"There is still a lot of uncertainty with how free agency is going to shake out," Bowman said. "Some teams are waiting to see if the players they like [sign]. Whether they get them or not is going to dictate [things].
"Obviously, there are some high-profile guys available, but they're only going to go to one team, and there's probably going to be five or six teams after them. So the teams that don't get those players are going to be looking for other things. There are opportunities there."
Bowman's priorities remain to add size and a top-center to his lineup, while bolstering up the blueline, a very important aspect for coach Joel Quenneville.
"There was one or two spots [on the blue line] that we were trying a lot of guys," Quenneville said. "Hopefully, we get a little bit more predictability and consistency there. We want three pairs that we can roll out there, and if you can roll them against all four lines, then you're in the perfect shape."
