Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson Reveals his Plans for the Upcoming Draft
Few NHL general managers get to be in the kind of position that Kyle Davidson of the Chicago Blackhawks is in right now. Not only does he have the number one overall pick in a year where there is a generational talent waiting in the wings, he also has 11 picks in total, including another first-rounder (19th), and four second round picks. The draft is slated to be deep with talent, and even though he already has plenty of picks, Davidson admits outright the plan is to use some of them to grab more.
"It's definitely something we're exploring. I think the level of success we reach will be dictated by the level of player we can acquire. And logic dictates that the higher you are in the draft, the better chance you have of getting a good player. And so we're going to explore the opportunities available to us to potentially move up again."
"We've got eight picks in the first three rounds of the draft, which is a lot. And I will concede that that's a lot. I think it's probably unlikely that we make all those picks."
"We've got eight picks in the first three rounds of the draft, which is a lot. And I will concede that that's a lot. I think it's probably unlikely that we make all those picks."
Much more work needed in Chicago
Despite his enviable draft position, Davidson has a lot of work to do with the product on the ice, even with Connor Bedard almost certainly coming into the fold with the first overall selection. 2022-23 was a terrible year for the Hawks and Davidson is eager to turn things around, and to use his picks to do it.
"So how that manifests itself, whether it's in a move up, whether we move some picks for future picks or something like that. You know, that remains to be seen. But that's a lot of picks."
This year's draft has all the makings of the most interesting one in a while. Several GMs should be looking to take advantage of the high level of talent available with some wheeling and dealing.
| POLL | ||
MAI 14 | 292 ANSWERS Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson Reveals his Plans for the Upcoming Draft What are the chances that Davidson deals his 19th overall pick? | ||
| 0% | 59 | 20.2 % |
| Slight chance | 68 | 23.3 % |
| 50/50 | 110 | 37.7 % |
| It's gone | 55 | 18.8 % |
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NOVEMBER 22, 2024
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Peyton Krebs | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alex Tuch | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||