Morning Chirps: More NHL Mock Drafts, Ugly Night at the Stanley Cup Final

We will focus on the NHL Entry Draft over the next few weeks as we read the tea leaves to determine what the Chicago Blackhawks will do. Meanwhile, the Edmonton Oilers embarrassed themselves in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final in every imaginable way. Let’s get Chirping!

Blackhawks Chirps

• I’ll do a Blackhawks Q&A later this week, so throw your questions in the comments!
• If you missed it yesterday, check out our latest Blackhawks Draft Profile on Arizona State University forward Cullen Potter.
• Speaking of the draft, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler released his second Mock Draft for the entire first round, including two picks by the Blackhawks.
• The Rockford IceHogs re-signed defenseman Cavan Fitzgerald to a two-year AHL contract. He was named the IceHogs’ MVP and Hardest Hitter for 2025. Not bad for a guy who started the season on a PTO.
• This date in Blackhawks history was not nearly as eventful as yesterday’s. On June 9, 2015, the Blackhawks beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final to even the series at 2-2. After a scoreless first period, Jonathan Toews and Alex Killorn traded goals in the middle frame. Brandon Saad scored his eighth goal of the postseason 6:22 into the third period, which proved to be the game-winner. Corey Crawford made 24 saves to earn the victory.
• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, June 10: Brent Sutter, Kip Miller, and Jiri Sekac.

NHL Chirps

• The New York Islanders hired veteran assistant coaches Ray Bennett and Bob Boughner to fill out Patrick Roy’s coaching staff. Russ Macias of NYI Hockey Now breaks down what they bring to the team.
• The Pittsburgh Penguins are still looking to fill out new head coach Dan Muse’s staff. Dave Molinari of Pittsburgh Hockey Now discusses some possible candidates.
• Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie announced his retirement on Monday. He scored 302 goals and 695 points in 1,010 NHL games with the St. Louis Blues and Capitals. He earned the nickname “T.J. Sochi” for scoring four shootout goals against Sergei Bobrovsky at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
• Hannah Kirkell of Vegas Hockey Now breaks down a reported three-team trade that would have sent shockwaves across the NHL.
• It seems that the Florida Panthers get at least one game in every playoff series where they get their opponent to completely fall apart and abandon their game plan. Game 3 was that game, as the Panthers rolled the Oilers 6-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Brad Marchand scored in the first minute to become the oldest player in NHL history to score in the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers have scored nine of the last 11 goals in this series. The second half of the game was an embarrassment for the Oilers as they just wanted to take cheap shots and fight after every whistle. I hope for their sake that they got all of that crap out of their system last night, or else this series will be over in five games.