Good morning and happy Monday, Blackhawks fans. Only two more sleeps until Connor Bedard hears his name called by the Chicago Blackhawks. And only two more sleeps until it’s officially draft day and the trade bonanza that we’re all expected blows the roof off said establishment while we’re all watching the proceedings in Nashville. How many trades will happen on Wednesday that involve first-round picks? How many veterans are going to get moved before the end of the week? Will any of us sleep between now and then?
Ben Pope recently reported the Blackhawks are not likely to extend a qualifying offer to Anders Bjork. Bjork was acquired from Buffalo before the deadline and had a nice start to his time in Chicago but injuries kept him off the ice for more time than he was able to contribute. Ben’s right; every indication is that Bjork is a good dude; I tweeted about the Blackhawks having interest in him two years before they actually made a move for him. We’ll see if he gets an invite back at a lower number but he might be in line behind a few other RFAs in the Blackhawks’ list of priorities right now (see: Kurashev, Philipp).
Sounds like Anders Bjork won’t get a qualifying offer from the Blackhawks and will test the open market, though a return isn’t impossible. He looked good this spring with 8 points in 13 GP. Great guy; best of luck to him.
Also sounds like Andreas Englund won’t be back.— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST)
We’re still waiting for anything on the rest of the Blackhawks’ RFA class as well. There have been reports Caleb Jones will not receive a qualifying offer, but the nothing on the rest of a group that include Kurashev, Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula. I wonder if any of the rights of any of these guys might be available in a trade before/during the draft…
Have you checked out my final 2-round mock draft yet? I made all six picks for the Blackhawks. Are you as excited as I am to see how this draft actually plays out in two (and three) more days?
This weekend’s “what’s happening now?” teams were the Flyers and Blues. Early in the weekend, there was a rumored deal of some significance between the two teams that was agreed to in principle, but “a player” refused to waive his no-trade clause. That player has been reported to be defenseman Torey Krug, who apparently wants to stay in St. Louis (and doesn’t want to be in Philly). But it sounds like the Blues and Flyers are still working towards consummating a deal that would send Kevin Hayes to the Blues.
The Flyers are still shopping defensemen of their own; there was reportedly a Flyers’ defenseman headed to St. Louis in the deal mentioned above, but both players were taken out of the deal when Krug refused to accept the move.
As we wait to see how/if this Flyers/Blues deal pans out, a few teams spoke with Philly about Sanheim, including the Toronto Maple Leafs. If Sanheim doesn't go to STL, I suspect those talks will pick back up (if they haven't already). Leafs also have poked on Hanifin in Calgary.— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod)
While we wait for a Blues-Flyers trade to happen, we’re also apparently waiting for a final trade to be announced between the Kings and Jets that will reportedly send disgruntled center Pierre-Luc Dubois to Los Angeles. The Kings stacking Dubois with Phillip Danault and Anze Kopitar is ridiculously good down the middle. I’m interested to see if/when this is announced what the AAV is on the Dubois extension.
All eyes on the as they try to get to the finish line with the to acquire Pierre-Luc Dubois. Multiple players/pieces would be going to Winnipeg if this gets done, including Gabe Vilardi and Alex Iafallo, and an extension for PLD would be expected.— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod)
The Kings traded defenseman Sean Durzi to the Arizona Coyotes for a 2024 second-round pick. Durzi’s a nice player; this isn’t going to win the Coyotes a championship and, frankly, I’m a little surprised Durzi got them a second-round pick. This felt like an asset acquisition move to give LA more pieces to acquire Dubois eventually.
The Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche made a trade over the weekend, and it’s a fascinating one. Even though new Preds GM Barry Trotz has said he wants his team to have better centers, one of the first transactions on his resume in his new role will be trading veteran center Ryan Johansen to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Alex Galchenyuk. In the deal, Nashville is retaining half of Johansen’s $8 million cap hit for the next two years.
Colorado needed to replace Gabriel Landeskog somehow, but they didn’t have the draft capital to make a big deal (the Avs do not have a second, third or fourth round pick this year and lack a second or third round pick next year). Johansen isn’t Landeskog; he isn’t close. But the number he’s hitting their cap for now is manageable for what he brings to the table.
Meanwhile, Galchenyuk is a 29-year-old UFA who has seen his stock plummet in recent seasons. Does Nashville see him as a reclamation project or did they just give Johansen away to clear the room?
“Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith with certain players,” Trotz told the team’s media crew. “It could be a path for [Juuso Parssinen] at center ice. It opens up a path for Tommy Novak. You saw what he did when he got the opportunity because [Johansen] got hurt – he was able to do very well in a limited time. But we’re talking about a player who has played his first 70 or 80 games in the National Hockey League, versus someone who’s got 800, so it’s a little different.”
Barry Trotz called the trade a progression of the moves the Preds made at the 2023 trade deadline, saying that the team is "following through" on its commitment to a new direction for the franchise.— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL)
Jordan Staal got a four-year extension from the Canes to remain in Carolina for what might be the duration of his career. Elliotte Friedman has the deal has a full no-move clause for the first three years and the understanding he cannot be traded without his consent in the final year of the contract.
The Captain isn't going anywhere 😤
The have re-signed Jordan Staal to a 4-year cont🌌ract.
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes)
While I’m over here focused on teenagers’ dreams coming true in Nashville later this week, the Cubs flew to London for a series against the Cardinals. It was a fun show, and once again I was left wondering both how bad the Cubs are and, simultaneously, how close they could be to doing something impressive. That’s kinda been this season for the Cubs, right? And, as this season has its bumps in the road, players have their moments of highs and lows. This weekend wasn’t great for Trey Mancini, but Brett did a nice job of appreciating his ownership of a tough performance and his humility in one of those down moments.
Trey Mancini Makes It So 🌠Hard to Stay Enraged At Him
Tab Bamford has been writing about the Chicago Blackhawks for almost two decades. He joined Bleacher Nation as the lead Blackhawks writer in May 2022. Tab is a member of the and is the author of three books about the Blackhawks: (Triumph Books),"100 Things Bl🐠ackhawks F♑ans Should Know & Do Before They Die" (Triumph Books) and "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Press, 2021). Find him on T🐼witter/X/Instagram/Threads at @The1Tab
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