Rookie Cards, Celebrini the Shark, Buyouts, Columbus Fires Vincent, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Connor Bedard Chicago Blackhawks
Connor Bedard Chicago Blackhawks

It’s been a hot minute since we had some fresh Connor Bedard content to cleanse our timelines, so I’m going to start our Tuesday with the NHL’s top rookie showing off his “Young Guns” card from Upper Deck on the ‘Gram. The hockey card market is still white hot for Bedard’s cards, and it will probably only get more crazy when he wins the Calder Trophy next week. The Blackhawks’ rookie phenom had a marvelous rookie season. Now… let’s see how they build a more competitive roster around him.

  • There was no question who the Blackhawks were taking at No. 1 in the draft last year. There is no question who the Sharks are taking this year. But, unlike GMKD last year, San Jose’s Mike Grier isn’t playing by the “don’t officially let it out” unwritten draft rules. He was pretty open about being excited to draft Macklin Celebrini during the lottery and then doubled down on Monday when speaking with the media before the draft begins next week.
  • How about some buyout candidates who might hit the market this summer? Thomas Drance and Harman Dayal at The Athletic looked at a dozen guys who might receive a check to go away this summer, and there are a few that might be interesting for the Blackhawks. One of which is Seattle netminder Philipp Grubauer, who’s 32 and hasn’t been great for the Kraken. Would he be a buy-low candidate to back-up Petr Mrazek in Chicago if he hits the market? I would certainly be interested.
  • This is also a list worth reading because, if teams might even consider a buyout option on some of these guys, they would almost certainly be available via trade for next to nothing. Connor Sheary, JG Pageau, Barclay Goodrow and Cam Atkinson are all names that might be interesting at a low cost.
  • Speaking of the trade market, The Fourth Period dropped their updated summer trade targets list on Monday and the Blackhawks were tied to four interesting forwards. I broke it down earlier this morning.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets brought Don Waddell in from Carolina as their new hockey ops czar (GM, alternate governor, etc) earlier this offseason. He made his first significant move on Monday, firing head coach Pascal Vincent… after only one season behind the bench. One season in which he had to deal with an unhappy and not-healthy Patrik Laine (who is now on the trade block), an injury to top pick Adam Fantilli and other underwhelming performances from young players. Vincent is a good coach and I think he’ll be an incredibly hot name in the next coaching cycle — which could start in October at the rate the NHL is firing people. We’ll see where the Jackets go from here with so many other jobs already filling this offseason.
  • Some Blues news (clues?) here: apparently Brian Elliott will retire and join the front office in St. Louis.
  • From one front office in the division to the coaching staff of another, the Winnipeg Jets made a few additions to their new group on Monday.
  • Oh by the way, the 2024 NBA Draft takes place over the two days immediately before the 2024 NHL Draft next week. So that’s fun for Chicago fans… right? Well, maybe not as much for Bulls fans (those who are left). I’m so sorry, Eli. But there were some interesting players in Chicago to work out on Monday.
  • 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 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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