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NHL Draft blog: Blackhawks open for business?

Alex DeBrincat Alex DeBrincat - Getty Images
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The first round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft is set for Thursday night in Montreal. In the hours leading up to the draft, TSN.ca looks at the latest news and rumours. Alex DeBrincat has been traded to the Ottawa Senators. Are the Chicago Blackhawks planning more?


Sens land DeBrincat

The emoji didn't lie.

The Ottawa Senators have acquired winger Alex DeBrincat from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for the No. 7 and No. 39 overall picks in 2022 and a 2024 third-round selection.

More here.


A portentous emoji?

The Chicago Blackhawks have tweeted out the dreaded eyes emoji.

Is the team's social account just having fun or is one of the many rumoured potential deals about to go down?


Team meetings underway

As of right now, there are no deals in place for a pick in the top-five.

But Darren Dreger notes that team meetings are taking place right now and everything is under consideration. Will somebody make a move?


Who's No. 1?

We still don't have a definitive answer as who the Montreal Canadiens will be selecting with the first overall pick on Thursday evening. Will it be Shane Wright or, perhaps, Juraj Slafkovsky?

Emily Kaplan reports that neither of the two has received any assurances from the Habs, but Slafkovsky did have a meeting with owner Geoff Molson earlier in the day.

The Canadiens will be selecting first overall for the sixth time and first since 1980 when they selected Doug Wickenheiser out of the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats.


DeBrincat watch is on

We've mentioned him a couple of times already, but the sense is growing that Alex DeBrincat is in his final day as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Athletic's Mark Lazerus is reporting the Blackhawks are actively trying to move the former Erie Otters star as a means to get back into the first round. Lazerus notes that it would be a bigger surprise if the 24-year-old DeBrincat wasn't traded on Thursday.


Keep an eye on Devils

As previously mentioned in regards to Jakob Chychrun, the New Jersey Devils are a team to watch on Thursday.

ESPN's Emily Kaplan reports that she's been told that the team "have a lot of wheels in motion" with the acquisition of a goalie among the aims.

Kaplan also notes that the chances of Alex DeBrincat being moved, as mentioned earlier, are good. Could the Devils be a fit here, as well?

TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie says that the Devils are one of a number of teams with interest in DeBrincat.


Georgiev off to Avs; Kuemper gone?

The Matt Murray trade to the Buffalo Sabres might have fallen through, but we have an actual trade to talk about now.

The Colorado Avalanche have acquired goaltender Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers for a three draft selections: a third- and fifth-round pick in 2022 and a third-round pick in 2023.

The New York Post's Larry Brooks notes that the Rangers were unlikely to qualify Georgiev, an impending restricted free agent.

Georgiev, 26, has appeared in 129 games over five seasons. He was 15-10-2 last season with a goals against average of 2.92 and an .898 save percentage.

The acquisition of Georgiev raises questions about the future of impending unrestricted free agent Darcy Kuemper in Colorado.

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports the belief is that the 32-year-old goaltender's days with the Stanley Cup champion are over with the Avs simply not having the cap space to retain him.


Could there be a flurry of trades this weekend?

There are very few times a year that a vast majority of all 32 NHL teams' top decision-makers are all in one place. The NHL Draft happens to be one of them, with the brain trusts of virtually every club currently in Montreal. This sort of environment - the first in-person draft in three years - lends itself to deal-making.

"Always a good thing, I think, when you get face-to-face with somebody and you say, 'I'd like to trade you A for B,' or whatever," Nashville Predators general manager David Poile told Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com. "You can get to the point really fast as opposed to a phone call. You could be playing video games or something like that and not concentrating."

With free agency rapidly approaching next week, cap space will be at a premium and that could lead to draft-day trades.

"I think there's a lot of those types of conversations happening around the league from the conversations I'm having," Philadelphia Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher told Zeisberger. "Whether it leads to more trades, we'll see. But certainly, there are teams that are trying to create more cap flexibility right now, whether that's using draft capital or taking back different types of contracts.

"Everybody's trying to be creative to maximize their flexibility going into free agency and getting ready to find players to help their team. But then in saying that, we all need young players, so these draft picks are critical."


Chychrun being dangled?

Heading into the trade deadline last spring, there was much speculation over the future of Arizona Coyotes defenceman Jakob Chychrun. The 24-year-old Boca Raton, FL native is midway through a six-year, $27.6 million deal and could be the answer to a team's need for a left-side defenceman, but no deal arose with the team content on waiting for a better offer.

Could the draft be the time for the Coyotes to pull the trigger?

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports there is speculation linking Chychrun to the second overall selection held by the New Jersey Devils and the Ottawa Senators at No. 7.

The Coyotes already have two picks of their own, drafting at No. 3 and again at No. 27 with the Carolina Hurricanes' pick, acquired through the trade of Christian Dvorak to the Montreal Canadiens (the Habs had the pick as compensation through the Hurricanes' signing of Jesperi Kotkaniemi).

Dreger notes that a deal with the Senators seems more unlikely of the two with the team already set on the left side.

Chychrun appeared in 47 games for the Coyotes last season, scoring seven goals and adding 14 assists over 23:00 of ice-time a night.


Blackhawks on outside looking in

The Chicago Blackhawks are one of eight teams that don't have a first-round pick on Thursday night. The Blackhawks traded their pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the sixth overall selection, as part of the Seth Jones trade last summer. But could the team find a way back in?

General manager Kyle Davidson, heading into his first draft as a GM, told the Chicago Sun-Times' Ben Pope that he's actively looking to trade into the first round if the price is right.

“[There’s] lots of talk, lots of calls and due diligence,” Davidson said. “I’d preferably like to get in the first round, but if there’s nothing there that makes sense for us, I’m not going to be disappointed about it.”

The speculation around the Hawks is that they could use winger Alex DeBrincat as a means to find a first-round pick. DeBrincat, 24, is heading into the final year of a three-year, $19.2 million deal that will leave him as a restricted free agent upon its expiry. The Farmington Hills, MI native is coming off of the second 40-plus-goal season of his five-year NHL career.

Davidson won't tip his hand, but says his phone is ringing.

“You do get a lot of calls. But people know pretty quickly if there’s going to be a fit or not ... and you hear the most from the same couple teams, over and over again," Davidson said. "It has really distilled down to a few teams the last little while because they know what they want, so we’ll see if it rises to the level of getting something done.”

The Blackhawks are also listening to offers for centre Kirby Dach, according to Scott Powers of The Athletic. 

Powers adds that Chicago would only be interested in considering deals that landed a top-15 pick.

Dach, 21, was drafted third overall by the Blackhawks in 2019. 

The Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., native had nine goals and 17 assists in 70 games this past season.

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun also indicates the Blackhawks appear open to almost anything today and are listening on a lot of fronts.