Credit the Chicago Blackhawks: If you can’t win the Stanley Cup, get the guy who currently has the Stanley Cup in his possession

The Chicago Blackhawks’ pursuit of a Stanley Cup took another turn when they acquired a player who had it in his possession.

Credit President of Hockey Operations Stan Bowman for thinking outside the box. If you can’t get the Cup, do the next best thing and get the guy with the Cup.

Tyler Johnson was acquired by the Hawks from the Tampa Bay Lightning late Tuesday night while he was planning his day with the Cup, a tradition enjoyed by all players from the championship team. He planned to go golfing with it Wednesday and take it to the downtown of Spokane, Wash. — his hometown — Thursday.

Presumably the Cup has been fixed since the Lightning dinged it and he’ll be extra careful. Timing is everything in life, and Johnson said goodbye to the only team he’s played on while looking ahead helping to end the Hawks’ drought.

“Bittersweet,” he said on a teleconference. “I get to celebrate with the Cup, kind of say a last goodbye, and then get a look forward to the next chapter of my life.”

He meant a last goodbye to his Lightning teammates — not the Cup. If Bowman’s latest blueprint for success comes to fruition, he’ll be seeing it again down the road.

In a surprising opening to the offseason, the Hawks continued to put their stated “rebuild” plan in the rear view mirror, adding another veteran forward to a team that’s already acquired defenseman Seth Jones and goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury, who is reportedly considering all options, including retirement.

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They made another subtraction Wednesday, sending defenseman Nikita Zadorov to the Calgary Flames for a third-round pick in 2022, erasing the memory of another dismal trade — for Brandon Saad — that didn’t pan out. They also added forward Jujhar Khaira — the third player of Punjabi descent to play in the NHL — on a two-year deal and defenseman Jake McCabe on a four-year contract.

Johnson, who turns 31 this week, was a star on the 2015 Lightning team that lost to the Blackhawks in the Cup Finals, the third and last of the Jonathan Toews-Patrick Kane era. Toews will be back playing with Kane in 2021, and Bowman apparently has decided to give them hope they can win once more before their contracts end in two years.

Johnson is signed through the 2023-24 season at a $5 million cap hit. The Hawks were one of 10 teams not on Johnson’s no-trade list and Johnson credited the atmosphere at the United Center during those 2015 Finals as a reason he left Chicago off the list.

“I do remember that first game in Chicago, with the fans, how loud it was during the anthem and everything,” he said. “I remember going into our intermission and our team was talking about how crazy that was. It’s going to be a lot of fun to be on the other side of that and have them cheering for me.”

Johnson was tied with Kane for most postseason points (23) during the 2015 run, even with a broken wrist. Johnson admitted Wednesday he probably shouldn’t have been on ice.

Like Fleury in Vegas, Johnson was a salary dump done by Tampa Bay for cap reasons. It cost the Hawks nothing — the rights to Brent Seabrook, who is on long-term injured reserve — and they also received a second-round pick in 2023.

If Johnson can rebound, he can be a third-line center behind Toews and Kirby Dach after centering the fourth line in Tampa.

“The role was a little bit smaller than what I wished,” he said of his ending with the Lightning, while hoping for a “fresh start.”

Johnson said he can relax now, “not wondering ‘what if?'” after living with trade rumors the last two years. The Lightning put him on waivers to start the 2021 season and he was on their taxi squad. When Nikita Kucherov returned for the postseason, Johnson was sent down to the fourth line.

Zooming with reporters, Johnson said he’s been following the Hawks offseason and was glad to be a part of it.

“I kind of felt like I was going to be going somewhere,” he said. “And I’m very happy that it’s an organization like Chicago.”

Johnson said he planned to bring the Stanley Cup to the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Thursday for photos and lett first-responders get some quality time with the famous trophy.

“I’m trying to give back as much as we can,” he said. “It’s a very cool thing (for Spokane).”

Yes, we remember.

Now the Hawks are starting to make noise about bringing it back. Go figure.