Morning Chirps: First round in the books, more trade fireworks

The Chicago Blackhawks did not have a pick in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft last night. They have six picks today, starting with No. 34 and 37 in the second round. They also have picks 66 (third round), 119 (fourth round), 194 (seventh round), and 200 (seventh round). The draft restarts at 10 am CT, so those first two picks will be made early.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The biggest news of the day came a couple of hours before the draft when general manager Kyle Davidson pulled off a surprising move. He was able to find a taker for Andre Burakovsky, trading him to the Ottawa Senators for a sixth-round pick next year, with zero salary retention. This trade shows how desperate teams are to make a move with free agency all but dead. Had you told me 24 hours ago that someone would take Burakovsky’s full cap hit after such a poor season, I would have called you crazy!

• The St. Louis Blues traded two of their first-round picks to the Anaheim Ducks for Mason McTavish. Before the draft, Elliotte Friedman mentioned that the Blackhawks were in the mix to acquire the young center. Scott Rogust says the Blackhawks missed an opportunity to accelerate the rebuild. Who knows? Maybe Davidson still has some irons in the Jason Robertson fires.

• The Rockford IceHogs have been busy adding to the AHL roster, and Josh Prost has all the details of the new faces on the farm.

• On this date in 1972, Blackhawks legend Bobby Hull signed a 10-year contract to leave the NHL for the Winnipeg Jets of the new World Hockey Association. The contract was worth $2.75 million, which is almost $22 million in today’s economy. He was worth every penny, scoring 303 goals and 638 points in 411 games. He helped the Jets to WHA championships in 1976, 1978, and 1979 and won the league MVP in 1973 and 1975.  

• In 1998, the Blackhawks acquired Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey from the Philadelphia Flyers for a fifth-round draft pick. His tenure in Chicago was short, as he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for Nelson Emerson after only 10 games.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, June 27: Lou Jankowski and Doug Shelton.

NHL Chirps

• The first three picks of the NHL Entry Draft went as predicted with Gavin McKenna (Toronto Maple Leafs), Ivar Stenberg (San Jose Sharks), and Caleb Malhotra (Vancouver Canucks) forming the top trio. The first surprise came when the Buffalo Sabres used the fourth pick acquired from the Blackhawks to take defenseman Daxon Rudolph. While he’s a good replacement for Bowen Byram, he was not the top-rated blueliner. That distinction was held by Chase Reid, who fell to the Seattle Kraken at seven. Check out NHL.com’s analysis of the first round.

• The Sabres started their draft day by trading the second-round pick they received from the Blackhawks and prospect Anton Walhberg to the Ducks for defenseman Olen Zellwegger.

• Kevin Weekes reported that Kirill Marchenko is unlikely to re-sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Add that to the likelihood that Zack Werenski will be moved after winning the Norris Trophy, and this could be a very bleak offseason for the Blue Jackets. If Marchenko is made available, he would be a tremendous addition to the Blackhawks and would not cost as much as acquiring Robertson.

• The Vegas Golden Knights won’t have to worry about a team signing Pavel Dorofeyev to an offer sheet because they traded him to the New York Rangers. The Golden Knights received the 26th overall pick (which they traded down from), a 2026 third-round pick, and a top-10 protected first-round pick in 2028. The Rangers quickly signed Dorofeyev to a seven-year, $77 million contract.

• The Los Angeles Kings signed defenseman Brandt Clarke to a five-year, $37 million contract extension. He is the second-highest-paid blueliner on the Kings after veteran Drew Doughty.

• The Boston Bruins acquired J.J. Peterka from the Utah Mammoth for the 23rd overall pick last night and their 2028 first-round pick. The Mammoth will regret giving up Josh Doan for one season of Peterka, who saw a 21-point dip in production. The Utah traded that 23rd overall pick to the Detroit Red Wings for goaltender Sebastian Cossa.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, June 27: Armand Mondou, Don Raliegh, Eric Cairns, Kevin Bahl, Florian Xhekaj, and Emmitt Finnie.

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