NASHVILLE, Tenn. — One of the Blackhawks’ possible bad-contract trades that seemed most sensible for weeks became reality Thursday.

The Hawks acquired veteran forward Josh Bailey from the Islanders — whose contract has one year remaining with a $5 million salary-cap hit — and also received a 2026 second-round draft pick for doing so. The Islanders officially received future considerations, which means nothing.

Bailey, who will turn 34 in August, has slowed down considerably after 15 consecutive seasons with the Islanders. His 25 points in 64 games last season tied for the worst full-season output of his career.

In that sense, the trade makes perfect sense for both sides, who hammered it out thanks to the proximity provided by the NHL draft Wednesday and Thursday.

The Islanders freed up cap space to try to re-sign or bring in higher-end players. The Hawks, meanwhile, added another future asset to their rebuild by weaponizing their extremely abundant cap space — and did so without committing to anything beyond next summer.

Bailey will compete with the Hawks’ glut of bottom-six forwards for playing time next season.

This story will be updated.