Blackhawks fans continue to inch closer to the start of the 2024 NHL Draft, which means more mock drafts and more final rankings are dropping. I went thru Corey Pronman’s amazing, 7-round mock draft yesterday. But there was another hefty chunk of draft content that got my eyes as well. Craig Button, the long-time scout and front office exec who does a great job tracking and ranking prospects for TSN, released his final top 96 rankings for the draft. And they’re incredibly different from any other list I’ve seen previously.
He has Ivan Demidov in play for the Blackhawks at No. 2… and Artyom Levshunov at No. 8 — the third defenseman on his board behind Zeev Buium and Zayne Parekh. Three rankings stand out most at the top of his board, however. He has forwards Tij Iginla at No. 3, Cole Eiserman at No. 5 — both significantly higher than anywhere else — and defenseman Anton Silayev at No. 14, which is lower than most that I’ve seen. It’s a fascinating list to consider.
Earlier this morning, the NHL handled the official heights and weights for the Russian prospects working out in Florida. Demidov’s agent tweeted his official numbers, and they’re bigger than had been previously reported. Which, as I’ve pointed out almost daily on social media, shouldn’t surprise anyone because it’s been a couple years since we got an update on the player. Now that we know he’s a haircut away from 6-1 and 192 pounds, does that change your mind about him at No. 2 in the draft?
Ben Pope at the Chicago Sun-Times ran a couple polls this week, asking Blackhawks fans what they want — and what the Hawks should do — at No. 2. Interesting results.
Scott Powers sat down with Levshunov at the workouts in Florida (remember: he has the same agent as Demidov) and talked to him about his game, the Blackhawks and his time at Michigan State.
I updated some rumor buzz on Wednesday afternoon ICYMI. How would you feel about Jakob Chychrun helping bolster the Blackhawks’ blue line?
I didn’t have Patrik Laine rumors in the piece yesterday, but Shayna Goldman at The Athletic examined eight teams that could/should be in the trade mix for Columbus’ forward this summer. The Blackhawks made an appearance. Here’s part of what Goldman wrote about his fit in Chicago:
The Blackhawks don’t have many offensive creators outside of Connor Bedard. A healthy Taylor Hall should change that, and so could some up-and-coming talent as it develops. But it wouldn’t hurt to add more scorers into the mix, especially to share the ice with Bedard so he doesn’t get held back by the team around him.
But would that be too volatile of an environment for Laine? Would the lack of structure and high-end talent weigh his game down?
My Thoughts: Laine’s contract isn’t ideal ($8.7M per), but it does fit the two-year commitment scheme the Blackhawks have built with an eye on Bedard’s next deal. To me it’s all about the acquisition cost. If the Blackhawks can get him without impacting their future capital significantly, it’s a risk they would have to measure. There’s talent there, but he hasn’t been happy in two spots now. Would a rebuild in Chicago put a smile on his face? Because the Blackhawks are not only building talent, but they’re also cultivating good vibes.
Add ANOTHER lottery pick to the trade market, this time all the way up at No. 4 overall. Columbus is open for business now as well. Moving that high in a draft doesn’t come cheap, and the Blue Jackets’ new GM knows he would need a hefty return. We’ll see if anything happens here. Columbus joins Ottawa (7), New Jersey (10) and Buffalo (11) as teams looking to potentially deal out of the top half of the first round next week.
The Hockey Hall of Fame will unveil its Class of 2024 at 2:30 PM CT on June 25. The announcement can be seen on NHL Network. While it’s a long shot, I’m still holding out hope for Steve Larmer to get in.
Finally, Bulls star DeMar DeRozan not only attended the Kendrick Lamar concert in LA last night, but he joined him and others — including Russell Westbrook — on stage.
NEWSLETTER
