On Monday, Chicago Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson indicated a desire to acquire a first-round pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, reports NBCSN Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis. Davidson said that while it’s definitely something he is looking at and hopes to be able to do, whether or not he will be able to make it happen is a different question.
The rebuilding Blackhawks had already traded their first-round pick in this year’s draft to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the trade that sent defenseman Seth Jones from Columbus to Chicago this past offseason. That pick was originally top-two protected by Chicago, meaning that if they won one of the two draft lotteries, they would have been able to keep the pick, however they did not and Columbus receives Chicago’s No. 6 overall selection in 2022.
This will be Davidson’s first season as GM of the Blackhawks after being officially hired into the role on March 1st. With the team having been in rebuild mode for a few seasons now, and sending the message that they expect it to continue with the trade of Brandon Hagel at this year’s trade deadline, Davidson’s next moves will be critical to showing what the plan is for the organization and how much longer he anticipates the rebuild to last. He has already acquired two future first-round picks from the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2023 and 2024 drafts in exchange for Hagel, which he could foreseeably use to acquire a pick in the 2022 draft.
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