Business of Bedard, An EARLY 2024 NHL Mock Draft, McGillis Visits Prospects, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

I hope you all had a lovely Fourth of July. There wasn’t much going on around the world of hockey yesterday. The free agent frenzy has predictably slowed — and the Blackhawks weren’t going to do much more anyway — and many clubs had the day off as a holiday in the United States. Chicago’s prospects did not meet with the media yesterday, but a few will later today.

  • Do you own a No. 98 sweater yet? Maybe a shirsey? If not… what’s taking you so long? The Blackhawks negotiated with the NHL and NHLPA to have Connor Bedard put on a No. 98 jersey when he was selected No. 1 overall in Nashville — so they could put the jerseys on sale ASAP that night. And the merch is selling! Ben Pope went to the Blackhawks’ store on Michigan Ave recently and spoke with some fans making their first Bedard purchase. Thankfully in his series of interviews none of the individuals identified as “Kyle from Chicago.” This is a fun read.
  • Speaking of the Business of Bedard, Jaime Faulkner spoke with Scott Soshnick, the Editor-in-Chief at Sportico, about the boom the organization has realized since the draft lottery. Tickets sales are way up, and now the merch is following. This is a good podcast episode for Hawks fans to check out.
  • The Blackhawks’ prospects are all hanging out in Chicago this week, the 2023 NHL Draft started one week ago, but we already have a 2024 NHL Mock Draft from Corey Pronman at . What a time to be alive! There are two people who didn’t rest on the Fourth apparently: Joey Chestnut and Corey Pronman. I was interested in a couple things when looking at his mock draft — and it wasn’t necessarily the players he had coming to Chicago. Where are the Blackhawks slotted to pick? And where is their second pick — from the Tampa Bay Lightning — landing in his earliest of early projections?
  • Answer No. 1: he had the Blackhawks’ own pick landing at No. 5 overall, where Pronman selected 6-1 Norwegian forward .
  • Answer No. 2: Pronman has the Bolts’ first-round pick coming in at No. 23, where he selected 5-11 RHD .
  • You may recall the Blackhawks brought Brock McGillis, the first openly gay professional hockey player, in to speak with members of the organization back before the team’s Pride Night. McGillis tweeted Tuesday that he’s coming back to Chicago to speak with the Blackhawks’ prospects.
  • On Wednesday morning, ESPN put a wrap on . One of the sports that really popped for them this year was the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey tournament. As you can see from their numbers back in April, the Frozen Four was a massive success for their platforms — the most viewed championship game since 2011! This is great news for the overall growth of the game.
  • One contract of note to report in the NHL: on Wednesday morning the Montreal Canadiens announced they have signed defenseman David…. (looks around….) Reinbacher — the No. 5 overall pick in last week’s draft — to his three-year, entry-level contract.
  • Finally, even though the Cubs found a way to improbably win a game in which they coughed-up a four-run lead after the seventh inning thanks to Ian Happ throwing out two base runners at the plate in the final two innings of play, David Ross still had time and energy to throw a couple F bombs at the cameras postgame. He also continued the Cubs’ tradition of managers getting thrown out on the Fourth of July. Good times!
  • written by

    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 Thing༒s Blackhawks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" (Triumph Books) and "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Press, 2021). Find him on Twitter/X/Instagram/Th⭕reads at @The1Tab

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