We only have to wait one more day for the Stanley Cup Final to begin, but there’s a big game tonight in Kamloops for three Blackhawks prospects. Kevin Korchinski, Nolan Allan and Colton Dach will try to help the Seattle Thunderbirds advance to the final of the Memorial Cup with a semifinal game tonight. Seattle won their previous game against the host team 6-1, with the final goal coming from Dach. They’ll face Peterborough, who defeated the host Blazers 5-4 in a thrilling overtime game last night.
SURPRISE! Connor Bedard was named to the CHL First All-Star Team on Thursday. I guess 71 goals and 72 assists in only 57 games will put you on this kind of list. I cannot wait to see him in Chicago this fall!
Bedard will join defenseman Kevin Korchinski in Chicago. Korchinski, who the Blackhawks selected seventh overall last summer, was named to the CHL’s Third All-Star Team after posting 73 points in 54 games for Seattle. They were teammates on Canada’s gold medal-winning team at the winter edition of the World Junior Championship. The Blackhawks also had prospects Ethan Del Mastro, Nolan Allan and Colton Dach on that team.
Korchinski has had a pretty, pretty good Memorial Cup tournament thus far. The CHL tweeted out some analytics from the round-robin portion of the tournament on Thursday and the Blackhawks’ prospects was near the top of a couple lists.
We learned on Thursday afternoon that Patrick Kane finally had his ailing hip worked on. Kane had a hip resurfacing procedure done and could miss the start of the 2023-24 season. He’s headed to unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career, so this could complicate matters for him.
Well, this is interesting. Chris makes a valid point that Toronto doesn’t exactly have a lot of picks in this draft, but they might be in a situation where moving around the draft while looking to move money out comes into play. We’ll see if this influences how active the Leafs are (noting their limited number of picks). I’m also going to be interested to see if any comparable stipulations are put on Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh as well.
Yeah, one would think this is at the top of the new GM’s To Do list this summer. And this could have an enormous trickle-down impact on the rest of the Leafs’ roster and next year’s free agent class, which could be headlined by Auston Matthews and teammate William Nylander. Are we thinking $15 million per for the superstar? He’s undoubtedly ready to set the market.
In “Things I Love to See” category, the Flyers are going to make their 2023 draft an experience to remember for a young man from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This is awesome!
Congrats to the new newest media members of the Hockey Hall of Fame!
Clutch? If you have any, please send it to ATTN: Chicago Cubs Offense at 1060 W. Addison St, Chicago, IL 60613. Because they have been shockingly bad when it counts this season.
NEWSLETTER
