With the 2022 NHL Entry Draft approaching, the NHL trade rumors mill is starting to churn again with teams looking to trade players, free up salary cap space, get additional draft picks for the entry draft and retool their teams for next season.
One team that has let it be known they are willing to trade players for draft picks is the Chicago Blackhawks.
Sportsnet reports every single player on the Blackhawks is available except Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Seth Jones because they own no-movement clauses. That is not to say, they can’t be traded but it is unlikely.
Chicago has let teams know they would like to trade into the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft after giving up the 2022 sixth overall pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jones.
The Blackhawks are in full rebuild mode but they don’t own a 2022 first round draft pick and they are hoping to change that over the next few weeks.
GM Kyle Davidson recently stated, “Being where we’re at in our trajectory, that’s where the talent is found, we hope to move up in the draft.”
“That’s where we need to bring players in at. So, it’s definitely something we’ll look at. Whether that’s a possibility is a different question, but it’s something I’m definitely interested in.”
Davidson is not going to be the answer and won’t build squat
Going to be a long time before the Blackhawks reach any prominence