NEWSLETTER
There’s been a lot of buzz around the Blackhawks potentially weaponizing their draft assets and cap space to move up in the 2023 NHL Draft. General manager Kyle Davidson said immediately after winning the draft lottery that moving up is on the radar, so everyone’s attention went directly to the idea of moving up from No. 19 overall.
Which makes sense in such a ridiculously good draft. Davidson has said on a number of occasions that the Blackhawks covet premium talent, and you get that earlier in the draft. In this year’s draft, a “premium” player could — likely will — be available at 19, though. So moving up from there could happen, but might not. That scenario is going to depend on who’s available at the spot Chicago can get; for example, if they want Ryan Leonard and he’s available still at No. 11, they might make a well-rumored deal with Vancouver.
But there are other scenarios where the Blackhawks could move up in this draft using their assets and cap space to move up that don’t impact the 19th overall pick.
Note: I’m not excluding the possibility of moving up from 19 here. Both could happen, especially if the price is right. But I think there’s a strong likelihood the Blackhawks look to get back into the first round of what is being hyped as a historically good draft for a third selection.
Davidson might look to move up into the the first round like he did last year, when he traded up to get back into the first round with Toronto and took Petr Mrazek’s contract back in the process. Chicago selected defenseman Sam Rinzel 25th overall, moving up 13 spots in that transaction.
Moving back up into the back-half of the first round would be an in-draft move based on the player(s) still available at the time of the deal; these don’t usually happen in a vacuum hoping for the right guy to be on the board.
There are some ways the Blackhawks could look to package their four picks in the second round and two in the third — or future picks — to get back into the late-first round. Here are a few teams that might be targets if the Blackhawks look to go that route.
Wild at No. 21
Would an in-division deal happen at the draft? It would be hard to see Minnesota moving back from this spot all the way into the second round, but they’re in a tough spot financially right now. CapFriendly shows them having roughly $9 million in cap space with only 15 players on their NHL roster. And that number goes down if we include Jesper Wallstedt, Brock Faber and Marco Rossi.
Would Minnesota entertain the idea of moving 35-year-old forward Mats Zuccarello, who has one year left at $6 million, off their books to make room for other needed additions/re-signings to move back from 21 to 35 overall? Even if Chicago needed to include an additional third-round pick to make that deal, Zuccarello would be a nice top-six add to the Blackhawks’ lineup this year and the Blackhawks can certainly afford the cap hit.
Rangers at No. 23
The Rangers need to dump money this summer and have only two picks — their own first and Colorado’s third-rounder — in the first five rounds of the draft. One name that’s been prominently mentioned in salary dump trade rumors has been 30-year-old forward Barclay Goodrow, who has four more years on a contract carrying a $3,641,667 cap hit.
If we use the Mrazek deal as a baseline, could the Blackhawks move up from No. 35 overall to No. 23 in taking on Goodrow’s contract? That’s a maybe. Would the Rangers entertain a lower pick in the second round if it was partnered with another mid-round pick to replenish their assets in this draft? That’s also very possible. Taking on four years of a contract isn’t ideal, and Goodrow might be a buyout candidate by the third year of what’s left on his contract. But moving out four years of cap space wouldn’t come cheap, and this might be a play for Davidson.
Maple Leafs at No. 28
The Maple Leafs were disappointed with their second-round playoff exit this year, and will have a new general manager calling the shots in the draft this year. The Leafs would probably like to get some money off their books again, and have only Boston’s first-round pick in the first four rounds of his summer’s draft.
Chicago might be willing to take on one year of TJ Brodie at $5 million to help them get to the floor and get up in the draft, as they did in the Mrazek deal last summer. Could the Blackhawks move up from No. 44 overall by taking back Brodie’s contract? That’s possible. (I remain steadfast in my assertion that Nikita Zaitsev should be bought out, and Brodie would replace him on the right side of the blue line.)
It’s worth noting that Toronto does not have a second-round pick for the next three years, and don’t have a first-round pick in 2025 (the Blackhawks already own that from the McCabe/Lafferty trade this season). So future assets might be in play here if the Blackhawks wanted to move up to the late-first with the Leafs as well.
The Blackhawks might also be able to package one of their picks in this year’s third round or a pick in the future — the Blackhawks have two picks in the second round of the 2024 and 2025 drafts — with No. 35 overall to move up to 28 without taking back a contract, giving the Leafs additional assets and getting Chicago back into the first round.
