OT: Blackhawks Draft / Rebuild

[GRADEN]

Also wouldn’t read into the signing as a move of a Murphy etc… I just think they saw this as none of the AHL kids are ready at TC or even November….

Jones - McCabe
Murphy -
Johnson -

Vlasic - Mitchell - Regula - C Jones - Stillman - Phillips - Roos - Galvas - Beaudin

That’s 2 spots for these 9 prospects. Likely C Jones and Stillman to start with Vlasic being the main candidate to grab hold of a spot over those 2 or if a trade happens…

[GRADEN]

Predictions for today?

I’ll go
Finland 3 Germany 1
Sweden 4 Latvia 1
Canada 7 Switzerland 2
Czechia 4 USA 3

I think it will be an upset but honestly that’s a good team against US roster

[GRADEN]

Hawks sign Tampa drafted Cole Guttman when they didn’t retain his rights

4 year college center at Denver so we obviously know him well

Smaller center more offensive than anything - 23 5’9 good release and great motor in o zone.. should step right into a mid 6 center spot with Rockford.

Good solid pickup with little to no nhl impact - basically insurance for RIH if Reichel makes hawks

[GRADEN]

As I’ve said before…. Rockford looks legit

Sikura - Robinson - Clendening led team with good chance at being a top team in the A

[GRADEN]

Finland wins 5-2

You can’t count them out of a medal…. They are stacked with an older group. Jarventie and Hirvonen both look like players close to NHL this year

[GRADEN]

Btw - Toronto has killed it with the few picks high they’ve had… to get Matt Knies and Roni Hirvonen in the 50s in back to back drafts is outstanding … I think both are solidly projected as good mid 6 forwards

[GRADEN]

Well shoot I just predicted each game and pretty much the differential, unfortunately I was correct on the US / Czechia game too.

It was just a bad matchup of slow down the mid ice and no momentum game…. It was going to get our skaters and it did.

I’ll take Canada / Finland and Canada in a romp to win it.

Also wow the Flames have had themselves a crazy off-season

Pretty much traded: Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, and Matthew Tkachuk for Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Mackenzie Weager….. the 1sts cancel out. Look for a season and maybe 2-2.5 seasons the flames will be a playoff team but dang in years 3-7/8 it’s going to be cap he’ll and injuries and bad….. soooooo win now

I get it, the west is worse so why not go chips all in I guess.

It’s going to be 23-25m per for those 3 guys all well into their 30s and mid 30s at that.

MTL collects a 1st that is Almost guaranteed to be 20-30 range if you read the conditions and not 23…. But chance at 24’ and most likely 25’

Not sure 6m player player trying to prove worth again…. For that…. Why not right.

[GRADEN]

Well I’ve gone 5 for 5 on the games and the scoring… with Canada Finland game today in which I picked Canada. It may be lower scoring then I thought but still think Canada should win by 2-4goals.

Wanted to review the 3 deals that happened

Cat got 7/37/3rd
Fiala got D Faber and LW Ohgren
Tkachuk got Hubie / Weags / 1st

Fiala and Chuk both extended in place. Therefore I’m not seeing how this “wasn’t his value”.

If say the redwings came and he extends with 8.75x8 then the value would bump up to say 8th / Velano / 2023 1st (top 3 protected)

That deal would have been ideal to me but the wings didn’t do it I suppose.

It was also assumed that the Fiala deal was “not enough” but Faber looks like a #1 and Ohgren was to me a top 10 pick that fell so it’s like they got 2 top 10 picks…

Also if you are keeping score Fleury deal got us Ryan Greene, Cat got us Korchinski and Ludwinski, Dach got us Nazar and Hayes

And Janmark got us Drew Commesso and Sam Savoie!!!! Wow we won that deal

[GRADEN]

Oh and the trade tree for Panarin is now Wyatt Kaiser

Panarin - Saad - Zadorov - 3rd (Wyatt Kaiser)

[Jeffster81]

Oh and the trade tree for Panarin is now Wyatt Kaiser

Panarin - Saad - Zadorov - 3rd (Wyatt Kaiser)

I've stopped thinking about that trade because what's the point of dwelling on it? It's like Bears fans cannot get passed the Bears passing on Mahomes.

[GRADEN]

Oh I’m with you…. Just a funny thing at this point.

I’m excited for this Danny - Davidson - Richardson led change of direction though.

And seriously if we aren’t in the top 3 for 2023 it’s OK

There are some insanely good players that will go 4-9 range

Dvorsky, Benson, Yager, Carlson, even Cam Allen / Kalle Halttunen maybe

[Jeffster81]

Oh I’m with you…. Just a funny thing at this point.

I’m excited for this Danny - Davidson - Richardson led change of direction though.

And seriously if we aren’t in the top 3 for 2023 it’s OK

There are some insanely good players that will go 4-9 range

Dvorsky, Benson, Yager, Carlson, even Cam Allen / Kalle Halttunen maybe

It feels like the Hawks RE-HEHEHEH-ALLY wants one of the top 2 picks. I would not be disappointed with the pick in the 4-9 range.

[Jiipee84]

Oh I’m with you…. Just a funny thing at this point.

I’m excited for this Danny - Davidson - Richardson led change of direction though.

And seriously if we aren’t in the top 3 for 2023 it’s OK

There are some insanely good players that will go 4-9 range

Dvorsky, Benson, Yager, Carlson, even Cam Allen / Kalle Halttunen maybe

Who the hell is Kalle Halttunen?
I know only Kasper Halttunen who signed 2+1 yrs contract with HIFK Helsinki SM liiga team this past spring.
Halttunen was one of the best Finns of U18 WJC's in Germany and helped Finland winning bronze medal.
But Ivan Hlinka tournament was disappointment for Halttunen so he didn't play so well there.

Halttunen also got drafted to London Knights in CHL import draft this summer.
But he's not going to report yet because Halttunen is decided to start his draft season in HIFK.

[Jiipee84]

If Blackhawks are able to win TOP3 / TOP5 lottery pick for 2024 NHL draft ( when it is ) keep eye on guy named Aron Kiviharju.
Kiviharju will be top ranked Finnish and European prospect for 2024 NHL draft.

Kiviharju played in U18 WJC's this past spring and was immediately Finland's best defensemen.
In 6 games Kiviharju scored 6 points and that's U16 players scoring record for U18 WJC's.
Kiviharju is right at the moment number 1 favorite to go 1st overall 2024.

[GRADEN]

Geez - I do this from my phone and Kalle is a common typed name for me therefore if I didn’t put full kasper in than it auto to it. I know a lot on him, and that contract in no way is a deterrent on him going 7-15 range at all.

Yes I’ve done tons of viewings on Kiviharju. Insane talent. Makar vibes.

Zegras on the cover. 2 gender cover - NRD with it a long time ago.

[GRADEN]

Lots of new “chatter” on Kane movement but zero of it from hawks or Kane camp… Freidge says oilers want him, hear Aves and Leafs too

Aves guy on chgo says no way to Newhook which I totally get but maybe a Sean Behrens, Oskar Olausson, 2023 1st combo…

Look if it’s those 3 assets than I honestly don’t think they could much better than that. Behrens looks like a 2nd pairing D, Olausson a mid 6 wing, and a pick 28-32 range in an all time draft… that’s not bad at all. I would give all 3 of them for Newhook but then again he is on the verge of being a star imo.

[Jiipee84]

Geez - I do this from my phone and Kalle is a common typed name for me therefore if I didn’t put full kasper in than it auto to it. I know a lot on him, and that contract in no way is a deterrent on him going 7-15 range at all.

Yes I’ve done tons of viewings on Kiviharju. Insane talent. Makar vibes.

Zegras on the cover. 2 gender cover - NRD with it a long time ago.

Of course Halttunen's SM liiga conract with HIFK is not a guarantee for anything in NHL draft.
Halttunen's draft number depends much on that how well he plays in SM liiga and U18 WJC's next spring.
If Halttunen is SM liiga regular before December then he might have chance to play U20 WJC's as well.

Kiviharju is absolutely awesome talent and NHL teams will compete hard of that who's enough lucky to draft him.
Yes a lot can happen before 2024 NHL draft and as we have seen being number 1 favorite for 1st overall now
doesn't automatically mean that Kiviharju really is 1st overall 2024.

Some Finnish hockey insiders have said that Kiviharju is most promising dman prospect
coming from Finland since Miro Heiskanen.

But the diffencre could be that Kiviharju might be slightly better than Heiskanen.

[GRADEN]

Love the response J…. I read into this you have Finnish roots?

Yes about 9-10 months ago and started watching Kiviharju and was just in awe of his edges and stop on a dime skating with the puck… thing I noticed the most was that he did it with the puck while not looking down.

He looks like a Dahlin - Miro - Makar level prospect…

Also while I know a lot will disagree with this list I did a deep dive on rosters and outlook for the season to truly see if the hawks have this crazy bad roster…. Which I am not so sure on.

I looked and ranked the most important things: top 6 scoring, top 2 pairings, team D, PK, Goalie, coaching, depth…

The results may surprise some (even me when I arranged them)

I won’t explain the numbers but will leave them as it shows the span between:


1. Sharks 28
2. Coyotes 31
3. Sabres 32
4. Blackhawks 35
5. Stars 36
6. Senators 37
7. Devils 38
8. Blue Jackets 39
————————————-
9. Ducks, Flames, Red Wings, Canadiens, Flyers - 41
————————————-
14. Bruins, Kings, Wild, Islanders, Kraken, Canucks - 42
————————————-
20. Predators, Penguins - 43
————————————-
22. Blues, Capitals - 44
————————————-
24. Oilers, Golden Knights, Jets - 45
————————————-
27. Panthers, Maple Leafs - 47
————————————-
29. Hurricanes - 48
30. Rangers, Avalanche - 49
————————————-
32. Lightning - 52

My research showed those 8 teams as the ones I expect to be in the hopper for the odds for top 3 picks.

Those 9-14 teams I consider improved but ultimately will miss the playoffs…. The next 6 are my fringe teams where 1/2 will make playoffs and 1/2 will be picks 14-16.

I think the next teams 20-26 to me are playoff teams but ultimately not contenders.

That left me with a clear top 6 teams that could all win the cup… with the Lightning top to bottom being the clear best constructed roster in the NHL.

I think the Jets stand out as a team where some here could say well no way they’ve stunk lately but if you look at their top 10-11 guys…. It’s just a complete juggernaut of talent on both sides and Helleybuck as an ultimate last option. Locker room issues aside, the team talent wise is stacked.

In terms of team lower than expected I have the flames picking 13th and missing playoffs which is surprising…. New players / new directions / expectations…. I don’t know I just didn’t see the depth scoring or safety nets in place to think they are going to have a similar 100+ pt year and that a 88-90pt year is possible. Sounds unlikely until it happens!

I also did a quick mock on those 8:

1. Sharks - C Bedard
2. Coyotes - RW Michkov
3. Sabres - C Fantilli
4. Blackhawks - C Yager
5. Stars - D Allen
6. Senators - RW Benson
7. Devils - RW Carlson
8. Blue Jackets - C Dvorsky

This is not terrible as I’ve said…. Yager / Benson would normally be top 3 picks in almost all other drafts

[GRADEN]

A lot of great info lately from wrap ups / previews / pods / interviews

Many reports… Korchinski was not making it past 10 no matter what and likely to go 7/8/9

Rinzel also viewed firmly in that 25-40 range and not 60-75.

Nazar compared to Vincent Trochek by Pronman per his sources… that’s pretty on to me.

No news on Kane… just a lot of Oilers talk, some Leafs / Rangers / Aves but really not much

Also maybe not as bad as we think.

Also seems like Fantilli the more likely #2 pick over Michkov due to contract and possibility of no extensions when competing with KHL money

[GRADEN]

2 games over the weekend as apart of the prospect showcase with the Wild…my thoughts;

Jaxon Stauber likely just a backup minor leaguer in net for career

Evan Barratt window to NHL rapidly closing… likely a bottom 6 flex player in the A

Reichel shows his dominance with the puck and speed… seems to make the correct pass, says to me that center is not out of the question for him

Nolan Allan another wasted 1st , ceiling appears to be as a 6th/7th defensive dman.

Cole Guttman / Filip Roos likely will play games with the Hawks, more than we think

Korchinski looks the part of a PP1 and tremendously creative skater… Shea Theodore potential

Also of note…. Rangers were able to deal Nils Lundqvist for a top 10 protected 2023 1st from Dallas. Wow they got a lot for all potential. He is 22 with 3 pro SHL years and really never wanted to play in the AHL but reluctantly did.

Stars gamble on him stepping in asap into top 4

Point being made here is that now Rangers have 2 1sts and Kappo Kakko sitting there as bait if Kane wants to move.

If the Rangers say take on Goodrows long deal 5x3.6 with Kakko and the 2 1sts for 50% retained Kane and throw in Mike Hardman (they will need a bottom 6) then it’s even money.

I think that is completely fair deal.

Kakko (disappointing so far, but talented)
Goodrow (classic mid 6 fwd, long deal)
2 1sts both likely 15-30 range

Kane (top pair - retain 1/2)
Hardman (btm6)

Now to convince Kane is the tough part and also I think rangers way more inclined if before season.

Would give hawks something like this: picks 4,15, 28, 30 in 2023