As things stand, the Chicago Blackhawks are set to have a quiet Friday night. That can change in a hurry, as this year’s draft week has proved.
The NHL draft begins Friday at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y., with the Toronto Maple Leafs selecting No. 1. Forward Gavin McKenna, 18, is the popular consensus to be the first name called, but the spots that follow remain a mystery after a deal-filled week.
The San Jose Sharks own the second pick. The Macklin Celebrini-led team traded left wing William Eklund to the Ottawa Senators and likely will replace him with 18-year-old wing Ivar Stenberg of Sweden.
McKenna or Stenberg would have been an ideal addition for the Hawks. The draft lottery had other ideas, dropping general manager Kyle Davidson’s selection two spots to No. 4.
Davidson had said he would be in “best player available” mode with the fourth pick, but instead he made the first move of Hawks offseason Tuesday, acquiring defenseman Bowen Byram and wing Jordan Greenway from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for defenseman Louis Crevier and the Nos. 4 and 45 picks in this year’s draft.
The price was worth it, Davidson said.
“In all likelihood, there was not going to be an opportunity for that player (in the draft) to come and impact the 26-27 roster, but I don’t necessarily think that comes into play (with the trade),” Davidson said Wednesday. “This was just a value that we put on a really, really good young player in (Byram) that we felt it was advantageous to move on and acquire for our group.”
The Hawks now have six selections for this weekend’s draft, starting in the second round with Nos. 34 and 37. How will Davidson go about the draft?
A need for wings
It’s no secret the Hawks need dependable wings, especially on the top line alongside 20-year-old center Connor Bedard. Now without a first-round pick, they will hope to find a steal in the later rounds — if Davidson sees it as a priority. He mentioned that while it will be “a little less exciting,” the current roster has skaters who can develop into solid wings.
“We feel we have a lot of great internal candidates,” Davidson said. “A player like 21-year-old Roman (Kantserov) that just let KHL in goals is a pretty exciting option to put on wing. If we traded for Roman instead of just signing him, it’d be more exciting and people would accept it as an option more than they normally do.
“We believe in our young players wholeheartedly, (but that) doesn’t mean there aren’t things you explore externally, which we will. As we stand, we’re happy and excited with what we’ve got coming back in Roman’s case because there’s elite offensive upside who can play with someone of Connor’s caliber.”
A boost for blueliners
Davidson raved about the addition of Byram, saying he sees the 25-year-old helping his other defensemen grow. The 2026 draft class is a defensemen goldmine, and the Hawks could add another with the intention of developing in Rockford.
The Hawks needed to add to their group, though the large package sent away may have been more suited to gain offensive help. Davidson insinuated that he did search for forwards — “you can’t go and make guys available” — but Byram’s availability was too good to pass up.
“The way we want to play and build this team, it starts from the back end out,” Davidson said. “When (Byram) became available and considering our options, we wanted to be decisive. We brought in a player we think is an elite young talent (and) we’re not going to apologize for that.”
Byram presumably will join Alex Vlasic on the top defensive pairing, followed by Artyom Levshunov and Wyatt Kaiser.
Front and center
The Hawks aren’t expected to draft a center with the mindset of them joining the NHL club anytime soon. Davidson is content with his young group — Connor Bedard, Anton Frondell, Frank Nazar and likely Ryan Greene.
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“In all likelihood we’ll see (Frondell) down the middle, (but) those things change quickly,” Davidson said. “The players we have internally have great utility and great upside to them (and), we’re very comfortable in utilizing them.”
Nazar, 22, registered 41 points in 66 games; Frondell,19, had nine in 12 games; and Greene, 22, totaled 29 in 81 games.