Hard to feel hopeful the Chicago Blackhawks can trade up to draft Michael Misa

Michael Misa is the ideal player for the Chicago Blackhawks to select in this year's draft. The problem is that he will likely be off the board when the Hawks select third overall.

That is because, for the second straight year, the San Jose Sharks will likely take a player who would look better in a Hawks sweater.

The Sharks won the NHL Draft Lottery over the Blackhawks to take Macklin Celebrini No. 1 overall last year

Now, the Sharks pick second overall, and all signs point to them taking the consensus top forward in the draft. There is a possibility that all of this could change if the New York Islanders choose hometown hero James Hagen over defenseman Michael Schaefer.

Then, San Jose is facing an interesting choice. Maybe, they follow what the Hawks did last season and select their future No. 1 defenseman over adding another high-ceiling forward.

However, the Blackhawks are attempting not to leave anything to chance by reportedly attempting to trade up in the draft.

Then again, the Hawks tried to trade back into the top five last year to get Ivan Demidov, who was falling in the draft, only to get rebuffed by the Columbus Blue Jackets. They loved Cayden Lindstrom that much.

If the Islanders and Sharks fall in love with players they want to draft, they have no motivation to move down.

Also, it is hard to see the Hawks having better luck this year when the Islanders got extremely lucky by winning the NHL Draft Lottery. They had just a 3.5% chance of winning the top pick. Lady Luck smiled upon the franchise. Plus, the Islanders were not that far away from nabbing a wild-card spot. It is unlikely they would be motivated to trade down for a bunch of draft picks.

The Hawks would likely have to trade away some of their young talent to entice the Islanders to give up the rights to the No. 1 pick. At this point in the rebuild, the Hawks should not entertain trading from their impressive prospect pool just to another prospect.

If the Islanders want impact veterans to put them over the top and get back into the playoffs, the Hawks just do not have those players.

When it comes to the Sharks, it probably means paying San Jose a buyout to swap spots and give up the right to take Misa. If the Sharks are looking for draft picks, then great, pay the price.

If San Jose loves Misa, it is just logical to assume they would probably want a combination of picks and young players. Once again, now is not the time to be trading away prospects just to add one prospect.

While Misa is the ideal bigger forward for the Hawks to take based on his ability to score goals in bunches, the draft still has plenty of enticing larger forwards with skill, such as Caleb Desnoyers, Anton Frondell, Porter Martone, or Jake O'Brien.

That is why if the Sharks' demand is high, it is just not worth paying the price.