The big news in the NHL on Tuesday night was from… Arizona? The Coyotes were part of a special election in Tempe to determine the viability of their $2.1 billion entertainment district plan, which would include a new, permanent arena to keep the team in Arizona. Well, that special election happened and the Coyotes failed to get any of the three propositions on the ballot enough votes to pass. In fact, they lost by a fairly significant margin. The organization and the NHL both released statements late last night expressing their disappointment. What’s next? It might be a new home for the artist-formerly-known-as the original Winnipeg Jets.
And the Yotes’ best player, Clayton Keller, was clearly an unhappy star last night.
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Big Blackhawks birthday wishes to Lukas Reichel, who turns 21 today. A lot of us are looking forward to seeing him in the NHL for a full regular season next year.
The Blackhawks had three prospects in action in Game 3 of the WHL championship series in Seattle. And Chicago’s prospects showed out! The Thunderbirds scored four goals in the first period and took a 6-2 lead to the third. Colton Dach had two assists while Nolan Allan and Kevin Korchinski had an assist on Dylan Guenther’s power play goal below. Seattle allowed a power play goal in the third but held on to win the game 6-3. The Thunderbirds have a 2-1 lead in the series and host Game 4 tonight.
Yesterday we dropped the second piece in our series considering a potential trade up in the draft for the Blackhawks. Monday we discussed the cost. The second installment looked at three spots the Hawks might target to make a deal — and what the deal might look like.
With Dallas advancing to the Western Conference Final on Monday night, that’s one more piece of the Blackhawks’ draft puzzle that’s a little more clear. Remember: Chicago swapped a third-round pick with the Stars at last year’s draft for one in the 2023 NHL Draft. By virtue of the Stars being in the conference final, that pick will now be in the final four of the third round this year. Also, the Blues’ third pick in the first round this year came from Dallas so it slides into the final four of the opening round as well.
The new president of hockey ops for the Flyers, Keith Jones, was on Frank Seravalli’s podcast. This was a really interesting conversation that’s worth your time, but Jones’ comment about building from the blue line is both smart and encouraging as a Blackhawks fan. When you look at where the Blackhawks’ rebuild is going, and where the first young players will come to help the NHL roster, the collection of defensemen Chicago has put together is really impressive. Now we just need the Hawks to grab some forwards to get the offense going around Connor Bedard and the arrow is pointing way up.
Let’s also remember the Flyers have the 7th pick in the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft. That might be a spot where the top defenseman in this year’s class, RHD David Reinbacher, comes off the board. There are a few teams after Philly who covet a big defenseman (Washington at 8, St. Louis at 10) so that’s a spot to keep an eye on as we get closer to the draft.
Finally, we all love a first from a young player. Last night, we saw Mash Mervis lose one for the first time in the major leagues. I can’t wait to enjoy the heck out of Connor Bedard‘s first NHL EVERYTHING this coming season!
NEWSLETTER
