Welcome to the busiest day of the hockey year, Blackhawks fans! No, the Hawks aren’t on the ice with a chance to win a championship. We’re all hoping they can get back to that place in the not-too distant future. But the next eight days stack up as a crazy time to keep your phone charged and your social media feeds clean because it’s about to get crazy. Here’s how the next eight days line up for us:
Monday: Stanley Cup Final — Game 7
Thursday: NHL Awards
Friday: 2024 NHL Draft — Round 1
Saturday: 2024 NHL Draft — Rounds 2-7
Monday, July 1: Free Agency
Monday July 1 – Friday, July 5: Blackhawks Development Camp**
** – off-ice only
Corey Pronman at The Athletic outlined what he felt was the biggest need for all 32 teams heading into the 2024 NHL Draft. For the Blackhawks, he identified size at forward as the target. Here’s what he wrote:
Chicago has had a lot of picks in recent years. The Blackhawks have drafted excellent young forwards and defensemen. I’m tempted to list goalie here, but we’ll see how their high second-round pick, Adam Gajan, develops. Looking at the forwards they’ve drafted, there’s a lot of skill and speed in that group, but they’re mostly small outside of Colton Dach, whom I do like. Ideally, they can add a forward with some size.
I shared a new Blackhawks mock draft roundup on Sunday morning. Chris Peters and Craig Button have new thoughts on the first (and, for Peters, second) round. So let’s discuss.
Speaking of power forwards, here’s a fascinating story from Murat Ates about the possibility/likelihood that the Winnipeg Jets are going to trade one of their top prospects, forward Rutger McGroarty. The University of Michigan forward surprised some when he decided to go back to school for another season in April, especially after UM teammates Frank Nazar signed (and played) with the Blackhawks and Gavin Brindley signed (and played) with the Blue Jackets. It looks like there’s a gap between the player and his representation and the club at this point that is no longer salvageable. Here’s what Ates wrote about the change in the relationship:
“there appears to be a disconnect between how Winnipeg’s player development viewed and communicated its plan with McGroarty and McGroarty’s view of his own future. The desire to play in the NHL played a big role in McGroarty’s decision not to sign in April; put simply, he viewed himself as more ready than the team did. At first, this difference in opinion didn’t appear to necessitate McGroarty’s exit from the organization. The relationship has changed since the start of McGroarty’s offseason, though. He no longer believes his future is with the Jets.”
I would absolutely, positively LOVE the Blackhawks to go after McGroarty. He was a point-per-game player for Michigan as a sophomore and has good size (6-1, 200) to play at the next level. He was originally the Jets’ first-round pick (No. 14) in the 2022 NHL Draft. Maybe the Hawks should have Nazar make a call?
Earlier in the week, Pronman did a draft-focused mailbag. One of the questions was a good one: which prospects other than Macklin Celebrini might be NHL-ready right now? From what I’ve heard, the majority of scouts think Celebrini is the only one who will be in the NHL in October. But Pronman’s answer is interesting.
Celebrini is a guy who is ready to go on Day 1 for sure. I think other players like [Artyom] Levshunov, [Zeev] Buium and, theoretically, Anton Silayev (who is signed in the KHL for two more years) could make the jump, but whether it’s in their best interest depends on how they look at camp and/or if they go back to school.
What I have heard is that this is situational; which team drafts the player may want/need them to go pro sooner than later. But for many teams, one more collegiate season for Levshunov and Buium isn’t out of the question for their development. In fact, for some scouts and front offices it’s expected.
The staff at The Athletic also examined the biggest free agent decision each franchise is going to need to make this summer. For the Blackhawks, internal players weren’t an issue; those who are UFAs are probably gone and they’re taking their sweet time with their RFAs. Mark Lazerus took care of the explanation for the Blackhawks, and he’s pretty much where we’ve all been discussing here for weeks with the biggest decision Chicago’s front office has to make in the coming week:
Whether they’re willing to make long-term offers: The Blackhawks have holes all over the roster, cap space to burn and a newfound desire to become competitive. But general manager Kyle Davidson is wary of making any long-term contract offers until he knows just how much his top prospects (Connor Bedard included) will cost in a couple of years. Davidson is reluctant to give out anything longer than a two-year deal, but if he really wants to lure any top free agents (he needs a top-line winger, a No. 2 center, a top-four defenseman and a backup goalie), he might have to bend a little bit. Yes, the Blackhawks can overpay someone like Jake Guentzel for a couple of years, but if Guentzel wants term instead, will Davidson be willing to offer it?
Since Laz brought up whether or not the Blackhawks are going to be willing to offer long-term contracts this summer, I’ll include this update on the Martin Nečas situation in Carolina from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Here’s my thing: Carolina might want to make a “hockey” trade here, but if the player truly wants out and other teams already know that… why would they overpay? I also really don’t like that Nashville is sniffing around big names right now with all of their draft capital.
The Kings were thought to maybe be willing to move Alex Turcotte before the deadline this past season. Well, they not only kept him thru the deadline, but they’re going to have him around for three more (incredibly affordable) years. They inked him to an extension at a team-friendly cap hit.
Finally, there’s a statue going up outside Wrigley Field of one of my childhood heroes today. So yes, I will celebrate Ryne Sandberg today.
NEWSLETTER
