Three Trade Options For the Blackhawks with the 3rd Overall Pick

This is going to be a long and entertaining summer filled with speculation about what moves Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson might make to improve the team.

A large portion of that speculation will surely be dedicated to debates over who the Hawks should pick with the third overall pick. However, I feel that if the opportunity is right to trade that pick and acquire proven NHL star talent, the Blackhawks should make it happen.

Kyle Davidson has never been shy when it comes to trades, especially around the draft. Remember that he acquired Frank Nazar by trading Kirby Dach on draft day.... and he acquired Kevin Korchinski by moving Alex Debrincat on draft day.... and he acquired Sam Rinzel by... ok you get the picture.

One thing Kyle Davidson has yet to do, is actually trade away draft picks to acquire a star. This summer presents several fascinating opportunities to make that a possibility. At this point in the rebuild, the Hawks have a plethora of young exciting players who project to be very good at the NHL level. While it would be wonderful to add another, I think that the time is right to use draft picks as trade chips and land a proven superstar to move this rebuild into the next stage. Let's explore three hypothetical trades, and see if they make sense for the Hawks.

Trade 1:

Look, acquiring a player of Pastrnak's caliber is not going to be cheap. so two first rounders, and an A tier defensive prospect in Korchinski may be what it takes. But Pastrnak is well worth this price. He is four time 40 goal scorer, and even scored over 60 goals in the 2022-2023 season. He is the Bruins Franchise and parting with him will hurt them terribly in the short term.

So why would the Bruins do this? It is evident from the moves that the Bruins made at the trade deadline that they are slowly moving towards a rebuild. This would rapidly accelerate that process. Remember that the Bruins have the seventh overall pick in this draft. So adding the third overall pick would give them two in the top ten, as well as a late round pick and a top defensive prospect who could very well play alongside Charlie McAvoy for years to come.

It checks a lot of boxes for the Bruins, but it's important to note that Pastrnak has a full no movement clause in his contract, so he would have to sign off on any trade. Honestly though, I think that the Hawks have a strong pitch to make. The Bruins look like a team that is sinking into a rebuild while the Hawks are building out of one. This move may be a good opportunity for Pastrnak as well as for the Hawks and Bruins.