Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson at No. 2 overall pick, Patrick Kane reunion, Jake Guentzel rumors and more originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Presented by Nationwide insurance agent Jeff Vukovich
BUFFALO, NY – Chicago Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson has been in Buffalo all week interviewing several prospects at the NHL Scouting Combine as the organization gathers the final bits of information ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft, which takes place in Vegas on 28- June 29.
Notably, the Blackhawks have the second overall pick. Davidson spoke to the media on Friday and confirmed that “it’s highly unlikely” Chicago will trade the pick, which isn’t a surprise.
The choice is expected to come down to experienced attacking forward Ivan Demidov and all-round defender Artyom Levshunov. Demidov was unable to attend the NHL Scouting Combine, but agent Dan Milstein will hold a mini-camp in Florida before the draft for the Russian prospects, and the Blackhawks will be one of the teams in attendance.
The conversation between Demidov and Levshunov has dominated headlines in Chicago over the past month, but Davidson admitted the Blackhawks aren’t leaning in one direction just yet.
“I would say the debate is still very real,” Davidson said. “I thought we might have a small, maybe a decision at this point, which isn’t a bad thing at all, but I think there are some really good options.
“It’s something we’re working on. We’ll take a little bit of a break after the combination and revisit that in seven to 10 days and go through things again. But yeah, we’ll decide closer to [the draft]So no, we’re still changing things up.”
Moving up from number 20 to number 18 overall
Davidson has been busy too. The Blackhawks moved up two spots in the first round from No. 20 to No. 18 overall and four spots in the second round from No. 54 to No. 50 in a five-pick trade with the New York Islanders.
It’s rare to see a pick swap this far before the draft, and you had to wonder if it was a move that could set the Blackhawks up for something else. But Davidson wasn’t ready to go that far.
“It just came up and felt like the option package was better afterwards than before, so we did it,” Davidson said. “If we can marginally improve the pick values that we received, why not? I think in the last, at least two drafts, we’ve had a lot of volume, so it just made sense. That wasn’t the case.” a precursor or something like that. It just made sense at the time, so we just did it.”
While it may not be a harbinger of anything, it at least gives the Blackhawks the opportunity to potentially trade even higher on draft day. We’ll see how it turns out.
The Jake Guentzel Sweepstakes
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman gave an off-the-board prediction in free agency on The Jeff Marek Show and NHL Network radio earlier this week, and his pick was Jake Guentzel for the Blackhawks. He doubled down on that thought on his 32 Thoughts Podcast on Friday, saying the Blackhawks would at least consider it.
The hockey community obviously had fun with that on social media. Davidson was asked about the Guentzel rumors and respectfully didn’t want to delve too much into it.
“I don’t comment on rumors,” Davidson said. “That’s just the time of year. There are talking points and there are things that people talk about. It is what it is. It’s fun. I follow it. I wonder what’s true and what’s not, and the fans do that and the media do that. Because for me it’s sometimes more annoying than anything, because people just ask me about it. That’s just the time of year we’re in.’
Davidson has said repeatedly that he will be cautious when it comes to how the Blackhawks use their cap space. He doesn’t want to tie up too much money long-term and lock himself in before players like Connor Bedard and Kevin Korchinski make their big bucks.
That hasn’t changed, but Davidson didn’t rule out the possibility of adding a more prominent name via free agency or trade, as long as it doesn’t impact their long-term financial prospects. That is of course a major condition.
“To me, with free agency or trade or whatever, because players you trade for can have a term, it just has to make sense,” Davidson said. “This is also the way we approached last season. If it makes sense and we feel there is value in it, then it is something we will explore. You talk about and think about everything, and you evaluate every situation that could occur.” : trade, free agency, the different players available in the draft. They just have to make sense in the grand scheme of things. If they don’t, you pass them by. If they do, you consider them, and even that one. they probably never happen.
“The number of things we take in and evaluate and try to understand, there are so many and so few happen. But it would be a disservice if we didn’t consider every trade option or every free choice option. We did that last year and we kept it short, but you’re always open to it. In the NHL it’s hard to acquire talent, so you have to be open to whatever comes along or something that limits what you do.
“We started on this path and as things come along we evaluate them, but if they don’t make sense we don’t do them. If we feel like they do make sense we pursue them and maybe it will happen , maybe it will happen.” But we’re very aware of where we are, what we’re trying to do, both in the short and long term, and if we feel like something improves those long-term prospects, we’ll jump on it. If we feel like it will hurt or something, then we won’t do it.”
What about Patrick Kane?
The Blackhawks moved on from Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews because they wanted to clean up the deck and let the new core grow into itself organically without being in the shadows of a few legends. Whether you agree with the decision or not, that’s the Blackhawks’ thinking behind it.
Well, Kane is a pending unrestricted free agent, he would like a term on his next deal, and his hip has held up just fine this season in Detroit. The Blackhawks are one of the few teams that can afford to give Kane a multi-year extension and a higher cap hit. And who hasn’t dreamed of Bedard and Kane playing together on the same line?
Is it possible the Blackhawks are considering bringing back Kane? Davidson seemed to throw cold water on the possibility of a reunion with No. 88 this offseason.
“He had a really good year,” Davidson said. “I think we’re all very happy to see that after having hip surgery last season. That was great to see. I think we’ve made some really tough decisions on some players who have been in the game for a long time.” market. I don’t expect us to return to that.” “
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