BUFFALO, N.Y. — A year ago, Chicago Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson sat in a hotel conference room during the NHL scouting combine and declared he was open to acquiring a significant player in the offseason.Ultimately, he did not.A year later, on the same date and in the same location, Davidson said nearly the same thing. This year, though, might be different. Davidson certainly is approaching the offseason with more intent of getting something done.“I’m certainly motivated to,” Davidson said. “I don’t know if I feel like it’s like a mandatory thing, but I want to, yeah. That’s kind of been a lot of the motivation, and a lot of the work here is trying to figure out what’s there that we potentially could add to the group. I wouldn’t say we weren’t motivated in the past to add, but there’s certainly an extra bit of willingness or aggressiveness in trying to explore what’s out there, for sure.”Does that mean potentially acquiring Jason Robertson? Matthew Knies? Dylan Larkin? Or anyone else notable who might be made available in the coming month? Davidson wasn’t about to dive that deep into the possibilities, but he provided some insight into why he’s more willing to make such a trade now and what he has to weigh if the opportunity presents itself.The “why” comes down to Davidson entering his fifth full season as Blackhawks GM and more of his draft picks being further along in their development process.“I think it’s just the maturation of our team,” Davidson said. “We have a better idea of where guys are starting to fall, what things are looking like moving forward, where we need to fill some holes, which was sort of where we wanted to understand where some of these players were after this year. And so, it’s just a better understanding of what we’re actually trying to fill.“Now, last couple of years, it’s not like there’s been some windfall of players that we’ve just sat out on,” he said. “But there’s just, as we get further into this thing and these players are in the NHL and we understand their capabilities, their areas of growth and their strengths, what do we need to augment that and what do you need to support that? And so that’s something we have more information on at this point, which allows us to be much more specific and targeted in what we might want or don’t want.”There have been a lot of signs that some notable players could be available for trade this offseason. The question is whether the Blackhawks would have what those other teams would want in exchange. There aren’t many teams in the position the Blackhawks were a few years ago, looking to part with capable players in exchange for prospects and draft picks. A majority of teams believe they’re not far from being a Stanley Cup contender and are likely seeking trades involving players already in the NHL on both sides.“If you are looking to find a player, (other teams) probably want a player or players back,” Davidson said. “And so, trying to figure out, are you actually better? … It feels like there’s much more of a desire for ‘hockey trades’ rather than a player for futures or prospects and stuff.”