Rumors began draft month with a bang when the Devils announced that the No. 10 overall pick was officially on the block and that the team would be listening to offers. Within a week, the Sabers followed suit and said their own lottery pick would be available to potential trade partners.
As expected, it was reported Wednesday that Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson was “continuing to make his calls around the league.” While Davidson was rumored to be more focused on acquiring a top-six forward in free agency or via trade, there is little doubt that his calls also included inquiries about a draft trade. After moving from Chicago’s 20th pick to No. 18 last month, the Blackhawks are looking to jump even higher for a chance to select an elite talent.
On Thursday, The Fourth Period revealed that another team has jumped into the mix to make its lottery pick available: the Ottawa Senators are now open to moving their No. 7 pick.
“We had interest in the selection (No. 7). Teams will call you and say, ‘Are you interested in moving the team?’ and you don’t know what it’s going to look like because you don’t know what’s going to be available there. “You have to be very flexible.”
– Senators Senior Vice President Dave Poulin
The three teams looking to trade their top picks have made it clear that their goal is to make a more immediate impact at the NHL level than just a draft pick. The Blackhawks don’t have much talent available on the team, so there may be other teams better suited in terms of providing strong NHL players in exchange for the picks. However, with Davidson hoping to prioritize quality of draft picks over quantity at this point in the rebuild, Chicago certainly has plenty of motivation to move up. Their best asset right now is a lot of cap space. With $33 million to work with, the Blackhawks are a great partner for teams like the Senators and Devils, who are looking for more flexibility and are stuck with some bad contracts. If Chicago offered to take one of those deals and include a veteran player or several draft picks, Ottawa and New Jersey might have a hard time saying no.
With three early picks now on the block, the Blackhawks will surely make decisions to try to move up. If Chicago can land a second lottery pick in one of the draft’s best classes, it will be great news for the nearly completed rebuild.