What Should The Chicago Blackhawks Do With The 17th-Pick?

The Chicago Blackhawks have the 17th-pick in the 2020 NHL entry-level draft. They have a few options with their pick, but which one fits them best?

The Chicago Blackhawks are towards the end of their rebuild, as they have a very young team overall and are close to being a playoff team again. After being eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there’s some re-tooling the team will have to do during the next two seasons to get on track.

Chicago has very limited Salary Cap space, so they’ll have to find a way to move some money. That can be done via trade or by buying out a player with 1-year left on their contract.

With the 17th-pick in the entry-level draft, the Hawks should trade down. Ottawa is the best bet for the Hawks, as they already have 3 picks in the first round. Trading down to 22nd with the Senators could add another pick in the second round, or help them move a bad contract in general.

With over $7,000,000 open for the Senators, they could be willing to take Brent Seabrook‘s contract to move up in the draft. They already have 2-picks in the top 5. If they could move for a third inside the top 20, they’ll have a chance to take two NHL ready players, and then a prospect who could be ready next season.

The Hawks should trade the 17th-pick to the Senators, along with their 54th-pick and Brent Seabrook, to get the 22nd-pick in the draft. Chicago will have to retain some of Seabrook’s deal, 25% is as high as the team should go through.

This trade does give up some draft capital, but it writes over $5,000,000 over the Hawks’ Salary Cap for the next 4-seasons.

After that, with the 22nd-pick in the 2020 NHL draft, the Chicago Blackhawks draft Justin Barron, the man who will replace Brent Seabrook. If you’d like to learn more about Barron, check out this piece I wrote about him a few months ago.