Morning Chirps: Robertson rejects multiple offers, Avs made another trade

Happy Draft Day! Before 32 NHL dreams come true tonight, get all the details from another busy day across the league.

Blackhawks Chirps

Many Blackhawks fans were hoping Matthew Knies would be coming to Chicago this summer, but as it turns out, the price was just too high.

We previewed the NHL Draft with Stephen Eliis on the CHGO Blackhawks Podcast and focused on some of the potential second-round targets.

In 1993, the Blackhawks struck gold in the fourth round of the NHL Entry Draft when they selected Eric Daze. He went on to score 226 goals and 398 points in 601 games for the Blackhawks. The pick was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in the 1992 trade for Dominik Hasek.

In 1998, the Blackhawks lost forward Greg Johnson to the Nashville Predators in the NHL Expansion Draft. He played 502 games in Nashville over the next seven seasons.

In 2004, the Blackhawks selected Cam Barker third overall in the NHL Entry Draft after Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin went with the first two picks. Future Blackhawk Andrew Ladd was selected fourth by the Carolina Hurricanes. This was the “Killer Bs” draft, as Dave Bolland, Bryan Bickell, and Troy Brouwer were also taken.

The Jason Robertson saga blew up last night. First, Elliotte Friedman reported that Robertson turned down a deal from the Seattle Kraken for “approximately $15 million per year on an eight-year deal.” That rejection likely has more to do with the team and not the money. Pierre LeBrun said that the Stars are now circling back to the other teams that showed interest. He reported that the Blackhawks are one of several teams that have inquired about Robertson. Finally, per Jeff Marek, the St. Louis Blues offered a package that included multiple first-round picks, but he’s not interested in signing with them either. Stay tuned!

The Blues are also reportedly in talks with the Anaheim Ducks for Mason McTavish. Per LeBrun, the Blues and New York Rangers have made offers for the young center.

The Columbus Blue Jackets added some firepower to their lineup. They sent a 2026 second-round pick, 2027 third-round pick, and 2028 fifth-round pick to the Colorado Avalanche for Valeri Nichushkin. This is the third trade the Avalanche have made in the past few days after trading Ross Colton and Jack Drury in two separate deals with the Predators. They need to clear plenty of cap space to dish out new extensions to Cale Makar and Artturi Lehkonen.

The Florida Panthers are losing A.J. Greer to free agency, so they went out and got his replacement. They acquired Garnet Hathaway and a 2026 sixth-round pick from the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick. The Flyers are also retaining half of his $2.4 million salary cap hit.

NHL Birthday Roll Call, June 26: George Hainsworth, Kirk McLean, Ed Jovanovski, John Erskine, Cody McLeod, Ethan Bear, Connor Dewar, Arthur Kaliyev, and Braeden Bowman.

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