Three Weeks To Bedard, Draft Attributes, Contention Timeline, Crawford’s HOF Case, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Happy Three Weeks Until the Blackhawks Draft Connor Bedard Day to those who celebrate! Three weeks from today, the 2023 NHL Draft — a draft that we’ve been talking about and waiting for since Bedard was 14 years old — begins in Nashville. With their lottery win, the Blackhawks get to make a historic selection of a player who has been rightfully tabbed a “generational talent.” This is worth getting excited about, fans.

  • The Blackhawks have a whole lot of picks after No. 1 overall this summer. Yesterday, the team dropped this video on Twitter and, while it’s only 43 seconds long, there are a few things that are very telling. Listen to the elements of players’ games that they’re discussing. Words that have consistently come up time and time again over the past year and a half since Kyle Davidson became the general manager like SPEED and ENERGY and COMPETE are all over the place. It’s subtle, but these are the things they’ve been looking for and will continue to look for in prospects.
  • At The Athletic this morning, Scott Powers and Dom Luszczyszyn have an interesting exercise in projecting when trying to answer the question we’re all asking: how far are the Blackhawks from actually contending again? They use some analysis to look at what contenders have and what pieces the Blackhawks lack that keeps them from being in that conversation. Bedard changes a lot in these equations, but Davidson and his front office and scouts have work to do to fill in around the their new superstar. How quickly Kevin Korchinski develops — and if he reaches his No. 1 defenseman projected ceiling — is a big factor as well.
  • One element they don’t touch on much but has to be considered is how and when Davidson weaponizes his cap space to add to the roster in an effort to win rather than stockpiling assets to build for the future. Next summer’s free agent class could be loaded, and Davidson has said previously that he has purposefully staggered his draft capital so, when the time is right, he can move picks to bring back impact players via trade. This is a good read.
  • Before Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, the crew at NHL Network considered the Hall of Fame resume of former Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford. They don’t think he’s HOF worthy, which seems to be the consensus. However, when we learned Carey Price’s career is likely over last August, I compared Crawford to Price and the numbers might surprise you — still. I’m not sure if I would put him in the Hall, but he was one helluva goaltender for the Blackhawks.
  • Yesterday the Flyers, Kings and Blue Jackets kicked off the summer trade market with a fairly surprising blockbuster deal. As the Stanley Cup Final continues, the trade buzz will increase; we’re three weeks from the NHL Draft and less than four from free agency opening. One team looking to dump salary is the Islanders, and Josh Bailey has been floated in rumors around Chicago for a while as a way for the Blackhawks to add more draft assets while helping a team dump money. The Kings paid a second round pick for a couple meh prospects and cap flexibility yesterday.
  • On Tuesday morning, the IceHogs announced Kale Howarth, all 6-foot-5 of him, is coming back for another season. The winger appeared in 31 games with two assists and 18 penalty minutes for the IceHogs this past season.
  • Since we’re all about prospects right now, let’s stay there and consider what some possible future Cubs are doing right now. That’s a lot more fun than spending time and/or energy on the performance of the big league roster these day…
  • written by

    Tab Bamford has been writing about the Chicago Blackhawks for almost two decades. He joined Bleacher Nation as the lead Blackhawks writer in May 2022. Tab is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is the author of three books about the Blackhawks: "The Future: Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks' New Era,"(Triumph Books),"100 Things Blackhawks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" (Triumph Books) and "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Press, 2021). Find him on Twitter/X/Instagram/Threads at @The1Tab

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