The rumor mill started the month of the draft with a bang when the Devils announced that the No. 10 overall pick was officially on the block and that the team would be listening to offers. Within a week, the Sabres followed suit and said that their own lottery pick would be made available to potential trade partners.
Unsurprisingly, it was reported on Wednesday that Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson was “continuing to make his calls around the league.” While it was rumored that Davidson was more focused on acquiring a top-six forward in free agency or via trade, there’s little doubt that his calls also included inquiries about a trade up in the draft. After moving from Chicago’s No. 20 pick up to No. 18 last month, the Blackhawks are looking to jump up even further to have the opportunity to select an elite talent.
On Thursday, The Fourth Period revealed that another team has jumped into the mix to make their lottery pick available – the Ottawa Senators are now open to moving their No. 7 pick.
“We had interest in the (No. 7) pick. Teams will call you and say, ‘Are you interested in moving the pick?’ and you don’t know what that’s going to look like because you don’t know what’s going to be available there. You have to stay very flexible.”
– Senators Sr. Vice President Dave Poulin
The three teams looking to trade their top picks have made it clear that they aim to get a more immediate impact at the NHL level than just a draft pick. The Blackhawks don’t have a ton of top talent available on the team, so there may be other teams better suited in terms of providing strong NHL players in exchange for the picks. However, with Davidson hoping to prioritize quality of draft picks over quantity at this point in the rebuild, Chicago certainly has plenty of motivation to move up. Their best asset at this point is an abundance of cap space. With $33 million to work with, the Blackhawks are a great partner for teams like the Senators and Devils, who are each seeking more flexibility and are stuck holding a few bad contracts. If Chicago offered to take on one of those deals and throw a veteran player or multiple draft picks in, Ottawa and New Jersey may have a hard time saying no.
With three early picks now on the block, the Blackhawks will certainly be making calls to try to move up. If Chicago can pick up a second lottery pick in a top-heavy draft class, it’ll be great news for the nearly completed rebuild.
