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.
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) June 7, 2023
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.
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) June 6, 2023
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.
Corey Crawford backstopped the @NHLBlackhawks to two Stanley Cups and took home two William M. Jennings trophies.
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…
Tab is the Lead Blackhawks voice for BN. He is the author of two books about the Blackhawks, most recently "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Press, 2021). Find him on Twitter at @The1Tab
Rewind a full year. Jason Dickinson was reporting to camp in Vancouver with some unrest in that organization. The Canucks were looking to find some cap flexibility with younger players needing to get paid in the not-too-distant future, and Dickinson...
The Blackhawks scrimmaged on Monday morning, splitting their practice into two periods. The opening faceoff was, appropriately, Connor Bedard against Lukas Reichel (Bedard won it). The final score: 3-2 in favor of Team Bedard with both Bedard and Reichel scoring...
Holy cow the Bears are terrible! I know that's like saying "Hey, the sun rose in the east this morning! Whodathunkit?" but their game in Kansas City on Sunday afternoon was as bad as I can remember. The Cubs handled...
I spent last night at my high school reunion. I won't say which one, but let's just say the year is closer to Jeremy Roenick than Stan Mikita. It was a great time with some folks I hadn't seen in...
The Blackhawks are still just skating through drills and installing their systems, so the takeaways at this point will come with a little more life to them when the team skates in intra-squad scrimmages on Monday and Tuesday. But there...
This is an exciting camp for a lot of the Blackhawks' top prospects. Some will show they have what it takes to play in the NHL. Others will show the coaches and front office they deserve an entry-level contract at...
Right out of the gate, some news for anyone thinking about attending one of the Blackhawks' practices during training camp. Head coach Luke Richardson told the media on Friday that they plan on running intra-squad scrimmages on Monday and Tuesday...
The Blackhawks had two more split practices at Fifth Third Arena on Friday. They flipped the order but kept the two groups together consistently with what we saw on Thursday. That meant the packed house that arrived bright and early...
Today is Day Two of the Blackhawks' sold-out training camp at Fifth Third Arena. As is Saturday. As was Thursday. 250 tickets per day have been secured, which is awesome! I'm interested to see if any of the line combinations...
The Chicago Blackhawks took the ice on Thursday. Training camp has begun. And, by the way, there are more players here than just Connor Bedard. Even if it seems like the phenom is the only person anyone is talking about...
A game-time decision to play, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow gave it a go despite not practicing all week while resting his re-aggravated calf. The Bengals won their first game of the season tonight against the Los Angeles Rams, but it...
It's easy to look impressive when you're playing the cellar of the NFC North. Tampa Bay opened the season 2-0 with wins over the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears, two teams with a combined 0-6 record this season. But the...
I would say something like 92% of my focus right now is on the playoffs. Specifically, the Cubs, and even more specifically, making them. Another 5% is allotted to the minor leagues - like the Tennessee Smokies' championship run -...
The Toronto Raptors might be on the verge of a blockbuster. According to Marc J. Spears of ESPN, the Raptors are now viewed by some as leading the pack in the Damian Lillard sweepstakes. The report comes only a couple...
I want to sincerely apologize to every Bleacher Nation reader. As I looked at the calendar today and realized less than one month stands between us and the start of the NBA season, I recognized I had yet to write...
It's another Bears (lost) Monday, but there's plenty to discuss, and that's what Matt and I did this afternoon. They're a rudderless ship, and there's surely changes coming this offseason at this point. But what exactly might that look like?...
Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields is straight-up not having a good time right now. And I'll be blunt — these comments from Fields via ESPN's Courtney Cronin are concerning: "I'm looking at it like the big picture, life in general to...
Rewind a full year. Jason Dickinson was reporting to camp in Vancouver with some unrest in that organization. The Canucks were looking to find some cap flexibility with younger players needing to get paid in the not-too-distant future, and Dickinson...
When it comes to rookie quarterbacks, C.J. Stroud has been the cream of the crop in the NFL this season. That's not to say that I don't believe Bryce Young will be or that Anthony Richardson hasn't been good. But...
The Houston Astros (85-71) have an away game against the Seattle Mariners (84-71), who are coming off a three-game losing streak. Monday's contest begins at 9:40 PM ET.The probable pitchers are Luis Castillo (14-7) for the Mariners and Justin Verlander...
