NEWSLETTER
On Thursday, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson spoke with the media in Buffalo at the NHL Draft Combine. This is a busy week for scouts and front office executives, watching players, meeting players and conducting individual interviews with potential draft picks.
We can be fairly confident that Chicago knows what they’re going to do at No. 1 — it’s Connor Bedard, folks — but after that this draft could be an absolutely crapshoot. Which is why a general manager with as many picks and as much cap space as Davidson is a busy, and popular, guy.
In his conversation with the media, Davidson indicated the Blackhawks have already met with 65-75 prospects at the combine — in 2-3 days! I’m out here trying to get to lunch without a second cup of coffee (or third, if we’re realistic). But, again, Chicago owns eight picks in the first three rounds alone (for now) so due diligence is important.
How Will Davidson Spend That Money
Davidson also spoke about the Blackhawks’ plan to get to the salary floor. According to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Blackhawks have started conversations with other teams and will focus on adding to their forward group when they start considering “bad contracts” in trades (cough, Vancouver, cough).
On Wednesday, the Blackhawks reportedly agreed to a two-year extension with forward Andreas Athanasiou. That deal moves them $4.25 million closer to the floor, but it certainly doesn’t use up all of their projected $36 million in cap space. How will the Blackhawks spend the money they have to? He isn’t worried about getting to the floor, but it might be a fun couple days at the draft as he uses his cap space to help his roster in the coming season and the rebuild effort.
