With Florida Advancing, the Blackhawks Now Own the #19 Selection... What Now?

Last night, there was a ton of entertaining hockey for once! Round 2 has seen a lot of lopsided wins and thusly hasn't produced the most "watchable" matchups. Not only was the Golden Knights - Oilers tilt a tough hard fought 4-3 outcome (VGK up 3-2 in the series now), but the Florida Panthers closed out the Toronto Maple Leafs with an OT win (4-1 series win).

This means that the Brandon Hagel trade has prodiuced it's first of two picks. This one is the #19 selection in one of the deepest drafts of recent memory. The pick being in the teens from a team that just went to 3 straight Cup finals (winning 2) is nothing short of a miracle.

Armed with 6 selections in rounds 2 and 3, this may be the opportunity for Kyle Davidson to move up: either back into the 1st (for a 3rd first round pick) or up from 19 into the 8-12 range. To review here is my updated tier range for the first round:

1. C-W Connor Bedard

2. Adam Fantilli 3. Matvei Michkov

4. Leo Carlsson 5. Will Smith 6. Zach Benson 7. Ryan Leonard 8. Oliver Moore

9. Nate Danielson 10. Dalibor Dvorsky 11. David Reinbacher 12. Sam Honzek

13. Axel Sandin-Pellikka 14. Matthew Wood 15. Gabriel Perreault

16. Oliver Bonk 17. Gavin Brindley 18. Andrew Cristall 19. Colby Barlow

I think that if you go by this you can see tier 6 as a a group where 1 of those players should be there for Chicago if staying at pick 19. I would be happy with anyone of those 4 players listed. If Davidson wanted to be a "little" aggressive and move up into tier 5 it would likely cost a pick in the 40s to move up 5-6 spots to grab one of Sandin-Pellikka, Wood, or Perreault.

To acquire a pick 8-12 though I believe will be very difficult. In my prior article I had a mock trade where Chicago moved up to #8, with the Capitals netting #19, #35, and a 2024 2nd (Vancouver) in return. I believe that is a fair deal, but it would be difficult for any team to leave one of the top 3 tiers. Could Davidson trade up to tier 4, yes I believe that is very much an option.

Would a Danielson, Dvorsky, Reinbacher, or Honzek be enough to trade away say 19/35/ future 4th? Perhaps, but one thing is certain.... That after Connor Bedard the options are plenty.