Happy 20th Kevin, New Draft Rankings, Marveling at McDavid, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Jun 21, 2024

Happy Friday, and Happy Birthday to Kevin Korchinski! Kevin gets to flip the first digit of his age to a 2 today, finishing his second decade of life. He played last season as the youngest defenseman in the entire NHL and endured the tragic loss of his father in the middle of the season and continued to work throughout the long year. I’m really excited to watch his game progress as he continues to mature.

I dropped my updated two-round mock draft this morning. Make sure to check it out because there are a lot of changes from previous editions.

Steven Ellis at Daily Faceoff released his final Top 120 prospect rankings for the draft. He does an exceptional job; I put him on my short list of analysts to read with the likes of Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler at The Athletic and Craig Button at TSN. Here’s his top ten overall:

Macklin Celebrini, C
Ivan Demidov, RW
Artyom Levshunov, RHD
Zayne Parekh, RHD
Berkly Catton, C
Zeev Buium, LHD
Cayden Lindstrom, C
Tij Iginla, LW
Sam Dickinson, LHD
Cole Eiserman, LW

Here are my final 2024 #NHLDraft rankings.

Writeups on 120 players for @DailyFaceoff:https://t.co/B3kKs1QkwI— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) June 21, 2024

And now this tease of Demidov shooting with some new sticks. Looks like his agent is also shopping for sponsors, which is another strong indication that he’ll be playing in North America sooner than later.

Ivan Demidov is trying new Warrior Sticks at the Gold Star – NHL Pre Draft Camp… can someone recommend equipment company to sign with? #WeAreGoldStar! pic.twitter.com/8XOWO1F531— Dan Milstein (@HockeyAgent1) June 20, 2024

Earlier this week, Matt wrote about how Connor McDavid is playing at another level than we’ve even seen from him over the past two games in the Stanley Cup Final. Pierre LeBrun and Chris Johnston at The Athletic went one (five) steps further and asked other current and recent NHL superstars, including former Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, about what McJesus is doing right now. And the common reaction is somewhere between awe and full-blown cheering for the guy. Here’s what Toews said:

“He’s out of this world. It’s really hard to comprehend what he’s doing, on top of the pressure he’s under. He just keeps reaching new levels. He’s unstoppable. I find myself cheering for him it’s so impressive.”

Updated with an amazing comment from Jonathan Toews.
Really enjoyed working on this piece with ⁦@reporterchris⁩⤵️

Connor McDavid’s Stanley Cup surge blowing away fellow NHL stars: ‘Somehow, he’s found another level’ https://t.co/kfQakSnU2Z— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 21, 2024

The goalie market is hot right now. We’ve already seen two blockbuster trades that included Jacob Markström going to New Jersey and Darcy Kuemper going to LA. On Thursday, the Penguins inked their backup to a two-year deal. Teams desperately looking to fix that position are going to find a tough market. And, remember, the Blackhawks have said they want more competition at that position to back up Petr Mrazek this coming year.

#Pens re-sign pending UFA goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic: 2 years x $2.5 million.

With Tristan Jarry, that’s $7.875 million in a goaltending tandem.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 20, 2024

Some Central Division coaching news on Friday morning:

Breaking: Former #mnwild long time assistant coach Darby Hendrickson is joining the Nashville #Preds as an assistant to his old pal Andrew Brunette. Deal will be announced soon.— FOX 9 Sports (@Fox9Sports) June 21, 2024

Finally, if you didn’t watch baseball last night you might have missed an incredible game at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama — where the great, late Willie Mays played Negro League games. Reggie Jackson, Mr. October, was on the set and was asked about coming back to the field. And he offered a measured, thoughtful, important response that was as real as it gets. When we say “Must Watch,” this absolutely qualifies.

Must-Watch: Reggie Jackson on the Violence, Fear, and Intimidation He Faced as a Player

"…they would burn our apartment complex down unless I got out."

"I would've gotten killed here… you would've saw me in an Oak tree somewhere."https://t.co/l0l0mJ9ZSK pic.twitter.com/21HQ8NAFR6— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) June 21, 2024

written by

Tab Bamford

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 Professional Hockey Writers Association and is the author of two books about the Blackhawks: "100 Things 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/Threads at @The1Tab

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