For Jason Dickinson, Blackhawks' youth is a source of joy and a reminder of his reality

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Blackhawks veteran forward Jason Dickinson has a tendency to dwell on the negatives. He's a self-critical person who believes that critical eye is crucial to growth, even if it diminishes happiness.

Hawks rookie forward Oliver Moore, however, has an unshakable exuberance — a trait shared to some extent by fellow youngsters like Nick Lardis, although he returned to Rockford on Monday, and Frank Nazar.

And that positivity is steadily rubbing off on Dickinson.

"The young guys have done a great job — just by being themselves — of making me focus less on the negative," Dickinson said Sunday. "They come in with such an appreciation and aptitude to learn and get better that I naturally fall into what they bring."

During the second period of the Hawks-Hurricanes game last week, for example, Dickinson was battling illness and half-asleep in the visitor's locker room at Lenovo Center. Then Moore sauntered into the room after his viral encounter with Alexander Nikishin's fists.

"He comes in after the fight, and he had three conversations with me in a matter of 15 seconds about different things, and somehow [they] always circled back to the fight," Dickinson said, grinning at the memory.

"It's funny. In those moments, he's fired up and he's still himself, he's still happy. Even after he got punched in the face, he's still got a wicked smile on his face — and a massive gash."

On the other hand, the presences of Moore and others remind Dickinson, a 30-year-old in his fourth season as a Hawk, that he's part of the older generation of more or less placeholders that the kids will gradually replace.

There's a good chance he's no longer a Hawk come March 6, the NHL trade deadline. He's a pending unrestricted free agent and the most logical candidate to ship out to make permanent room on the roster for prospects like Lardis and Anton Frondell, the latter of whom should arrive in mid-to-late March once his Swedish season ends.

Dickinson and the Hawks' other pending UFAs — most notably Nick Foligno, Ilya Mikheyev and Connor Murphy, plus Matt Grzelcyk and Sam Lafferty — haven't discussed their common situations. That's because there's not much to discuss. They're collectively focused on helping the Hawks continue their ascension.

But Dickinson assumes they're all aware of reality. He is, at least.

"All of us are in the same boat where we've been here for a while, we know times are changing and it's getting younger, so it is possible that it's our time," he said. "But at the same time, we're enjoying that we're competitive. We've gone through the hard times to get to enjoy what we're doing right now: seeing the growth and seeing the fruits of our labor.

"[It's proof] that what we grinded through was not for nothing, that the prospect pool is coming up and showing that they're worth it. The coaching staff and management are putting [together] a product now that we can say, 'Hey, we're part of what has been built here.'"

It always seemed like the Hawks would have to choose between re-signing Dickinson or Mikheyev, and the latter appears increasingly likely to be their choice.

Mikheyev's excellent penalty-killing and ability to translate between English and Russian — which helps Artyom Levshunov and would help prospect Roman Kantserov — are points in his favor. And with Moore establishing himself as better at center, the fact Dickinson plays center and Mikheyev wing is less meaningful.

Dickinson isn't ruling out anything, though. Neither will the Hawks until a trade has actually materialized.

"There's been so much good out of my time here," Dickinson said. "If it ends this year, I can look back on it fondly. But if an opportunity for it to continue and go on presents itself, then it's something I would absolutely consider and be happy to talk about."