3 seemingly unreasonable offseason moves that would make complete sense for the Blackhawks

Trading away the second-overall pick for more draft capital

Yep, the trade Kyle Davidson made last week inspired this one, and it accounts for the entire ‘quantity’ over ‘quality’ cost, but with a potential ‘quantity’ with ‘quality’ outcome. In a situation like this, Kyle Davidson would trade away the second overall pick and accumulate more draft capital in 2024 and 2025 - or, as implied in a previous slide, use that draft capital to make such a big trade next season. 

This is not an endorsement for the Blackhawks to trade the second overall pick, as keeping it would land them a surefire NHL star or at least increase their odds of doing so. But to some, it may seem unreasonable to trade the pick because of their high probability of landing a star to put onto the same line with Connor Bedard or to take up a place on the top-pairing. 

What I am saying is if Davidson traded the second overall pick for even more selections in 2024 or even in the future, it shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. The 2024 NHL Draft is laden with talent beyond the first two selections, with players like Berkley Catton, Cayden Lindstrom, Cole Eiserman, and Zeev Buium making a small cluster of how the Hawks could spend a pick if they traded out of the top two. 

There are also a couple of players there who, thanks to their overall size and natural talent, could even be NHL-ready within the next year for at least a trial run. We saw this happen with Zach Benson of the Buffalo Sabres last year, so the possibility of unearthing an NHL-ready prospect outside the top two is likely. 

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)