One week, Blackhawks fans. Seven more days until the start of the 2023 NHL Draft. Thanks to lots of losses and lucky lottery balls, the Blackhawks own the No. 1 overall pick for just the second time in the history of the franchise. And they’ll select Connor Bedard — a generational talent who has been coveted by NHL teams since he was in sixth grade. Scott Powers broke down some tape an examined what makes Bedard special. This is a great read/watch as we all count down to the draft beginning in Nashville next week.
This year’s draft has a lot of big questions, but the biggest is which team will roll the dice on Matvei Michkov and wait three years (at least) to get him into the NHL. He’s been described as a supreme talent and compared to guys like Ovechkin, Kucherov and Kane. But, as Tom Petty told us, the waiting is the hardest part. This is a great read on what makes him so special, and why he’s probably worth the wait.
Don’t let the tweet fool you: this piece from Adam Proteau is actually very PRO-Blackhawks (especially the front office). He gives the Blackhawks’ 2022-23 season an A+ because, well, it was mission accomplished. They were bad, and won the end game with Bedard. Thus far, Kyle Davidson and Co. have held to their convictions in their rebuild plan, and the first big payoff happens one week from tonight. But they need to stay the course.
The best days aren’t close ahead for the Hawks, but they are visible on the ho💝rizon. It’s now about the stones to wait out the growth proc🧔ess, and we think Chicago brass has them.
One of the Blackhawks’ second-round picks last year, Ryan Greene, added an honor to close out his freshman year at Boston University. Greene had a great year on the ice and, apparently, in the classroom as well. On Tuesday he was named to the Hockey East All-Academic Team.
This is an interesting read on the trade value of an old friend. Last year, the Blackhawks traded Alex DeBrincat to Ottawa for two draft picks, which they used on Kevin Korchinski and Paul Ludwinski — both of whom have already signed their entry-level contracts. Now, 12 months later, the Sens are looking at a roster that underperformed and a player who has a $9 million qualifying offer that underwhelmed — and might want to test the UFA market next summer. So what to do? They offer some interesting hypotheticals in this piece.
Steve Ellis at Daily Faceoff dropped his 15 defensemen to watch ahead of the draft. Good notes here if you’re looking for some additional intel on some of the top blue line prospects in the coming draft. I’m not sure any of these will be on the Blackhawks’ radar, however.
The Rangers introduced their new head coach, Peter Laviolette, on Tuesday morning. He’s tasked with one simple thing: win a championship. Good luck with that!
It looks like Arizona is the first team to jump into the buyout game. On Tuesday, the Coyotes placed Zack Kassian and Patrik Nemeth on waivers. With the salary cap only going up a minimal amount this summer, these two are unlikely to be the only players to get news like this between now and the end of the month.
Finally, love me some draft content but what about the guys that don’t hear their names called? This is good stuff for our Bulls fans to consider before the NBA draft takes place tomorrow night.
