Dudley made his first trade on June 23, 2010, involving nine players and draft picks, with the Chicago Blackhawks. The Thrashers received Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, Brent Sopel and Akim Aliu in exchange for Marty Reasoner, Joey Crabb, Jeremy Morin, the Devils' first-round pick (#24 overall) in 2010 and the Devils' second-round pick (#54 overall) in 2010. Later, the Thrashers also traded for Blackhawk Andrew Ladd while sending prospect Ivan Vishnevskiy and a draft pick to Chicago. The Blackhawks, the 2010 Stanley Cup champions, found it necessary to trade players for prospects and picks as they were in difficulty with the salary cap.