The NHL draft is less than two weeks away! Round 1 will be on Tuesday, October 6 and Rounds 2-7 will be on Wednesday, October 7. Following the draft is the start of the free agency period on October 9.
As the draft approaches, we are seeing countless mock drafts, prospect profiles, and fierce debates emerging to amp up the excitement and provide you with excess fodder to chew on as you chart out your own draft boards.
Here on HockeyBuzz, there will be several blogs devoted as a countdown to the draft. Below is a preview of what’s to come as well as some storylines to keep an eye on.
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HOCKEYBUZZ MOCK DRAFT
Jan Levine is the HockeyBuzz blogger for the New York Rangers and hosts the annual HockeyBuzz mock draft driven by resident bloggers and loyal readers.
Click here to view all of Jan’s blogs written to date on the mock draft selections made so far.
I am representing the Chicago Blackhawks at the podium and will be announcing my pick via Jan’s blog coming out tomorrow, September 24.
For now, check out Jan’s blogs to catch up on who the teams ahead of the Hawks have selected and stay tuned for my selection at the 17th spot!
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1ST ROUND OPTIONS
Next week will be a series of blogs highlighting options for the Blackhawks to consider drafting at 17th overall. Here is the roll-out schedule:
* Monday, 9/28: Forwards
* Wednesday, 9/30: Defensemen
* Friday, 10/2: Goalies
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DRAFT DAY: BEFORE, DURING & AFTER
The following week I will do a readers Q&A mailbag for both the draft and free agency plus a review of all draft picks by Chicago. The roll-out schedule for these blogs:
* Monday, 10/5: Readers Q&A Mailbag
* Wednesday, 10/7: Review of Round 1
* Friday, 10/9: Review of Rounds 2-7
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READERS Q&A MAILBAG
Calling all readers! If you have any questions you want to ask about the draft and/or free agency, please send me a private message or email me at
[email protected].
Questions about free agency can be about the Hawks own free agents or other teams’ free agents as we get ready for the free agency period to begin on October 9.
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PAST YEARS AT 17TH
Some are lamenting the fact that the Hawks jumped from picking 9th to 17th due to their performance in the postseason. There have been some good ones at 17th as well as some bad ones. So maybe not time to fret, at least not yet.
Here is a look at the past 15th to 19th picks since 2008 (17th pick in bold), which is the season after Patrick Kane was selected 1st overall:
2008: Erik Karlsson (15th), Joe Colborne (16th),
Jake Gardiner (17th), Chet Pickard (18th), Luca Sbisa (19th)
2009: Peter Holland, Nick Leddy,
David Rundblad, Louis Leblanc, Chris Kreider
2010: Derek Forbort, Vladimir Tarasenko,
Joey Hishon, Austin Watson, Nick Bjugstad
2011: J.T. Miller, Joel Armia,
Nathan Beaulieu, Mark McNeill, Oscar Klefbom
2012: Cody Ceci, Tom Wilson,
Tomas Hertl, Teuvo Teravainen, Andrei Vasilevskiy
2013: Ryan Pulock, Nikita Zadorov,
Curtis Lazar, Mirco Mueller, Kerby Rychel
2014: Dylan Larkin, Sonny Milano,
Travis Sanheim, Alex Tuch, Tony DeAngelo
2015: Zachary Senyshyn, Mathew Barzal,
Kyle Connor, Thomas Chabot, Evgeny Svechnikov
2016: Luke Kunin, Jakob Chychrun,
Dante Fabbro, Logan Stanley, Kieffer Bellows
2017: Erik Brannstrom, Juuso Valimaki,
Timothy Liljegren, Urho Vaakanainen, Josh Norris
2018: Grigori Denisenko, Martin Kaut,
Ty Smith, Liam Foudy, Jay O’Brien
2019: Cole Caufield, Alex Newhook,
Peyton Krebs, Thomas Harley, Lassi Thomson
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STORYLINES
As the two offseason main attractions in the draft and free agency approach, here are a few emerging storylines to watch for:
* Will the Blackhawks draft a forward, defenseman, or goalie in the 1st round?
* Will the Hawks trade any of their players or prospects to gain more draft picks?
* Will a goalie be drafted at any round and/or will one be acquired via trade or free agency?
* Will the team be active in the free agency period or just stick to re-signing their own?
* Will there be trades to replace any of their own free agents who aren’t re-signed?
* Will Zack Smith, Olli Maatta, or other player be bought out to free up some cap space?
* Will Bowman make a move or two totally out of left field that will either get you excited or make you want to smash things?
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NEXT BLOG
This Friday I will have a new blog. The topic isn’t about the draft, at least not solely on the draft.
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UPDATES
With Dominik Kubalik earning a bonus for being named to the NHL All Rookie Team, the Blackhawks now have a total of $1,090,244 in bonus overages that will carry over to the 2020-21 salary cap. This amount could have implications on re-signing the team’s free agents and -- if the team goes this route -- acquiring new players by way of free agency and/or trades.
The IceHogs announced today that they have re-signed defenseman Cody Franson to an AHL deal. Franson (33 years old) has played the past two seasons in the KHL for Omsk Avangard.
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See you on the boards!
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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