Morning Chirps: Brodie Buyout Coming, Free Agency Class Continues to Grow

The moves are starting to come at a furious pace as we are just five days away from the NHL Entry Draft. The Chicago Blackhawks spent Saturday making a trade and preparing to buy out a veteran’s contract. The trade rumors are swirling, and the free agent class is growing. Our Sunday Morning Chirps will get you all caught up.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The Blackhawks acquired Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken for Joe Veleno. As I wrote Saturday morning, the move doesn’t move the needle too much. Is Burakovsky an upgrade over Veleno? Yes, but he’s an older player coming off three seasons full of injuries and underachieving. I know he helps the Blackhawks get to the salary cap floor, but I hoped they were past the “picking up table scraps to hit the cap floor” phase of the rebuild. We’ll see how this move looks once the draft and free agency hit over the next few days. If Burakovsky is a depth move because the Blackhawks add a “difference-maker,” then the trade is not a big deal. The offseason is a massive disappointment if he is the most significant offensive addition this summer.
• After the trade news broke, the Blackhawks put defenseman T.J. Brodie on waivers to buy out the final year of his contract. Brodie was a questionable acquisition at best. Especially since the Blackhawks also brought in Alec Martinez. Giving him two years was puzzling from the moment it was announced. Per PuckPedia, the Blackhawks will incur a $3.233 million cap hit in 2025-26 and a $258,000 cap hit in 2026-27.
• Signing Mitch Marner this summer is a long shot, but a report from Pierre Lebrun of The Athletic takes them out of the running altogether. Lebrun says he’s heard Marner is willing to sign a two-year contract this summer to hit the open market again when the salary cap skyrockets. If this is true, he will go to a Stanley Cup contender, and the Blackhawks won’t even have a seat at the table.
• On this date in 2002, general manager Mike Smith drafted two members of the 2010 Stanley Cup championship team. After selecting Anton Babchuk in the first round, he took Duncan Keith out of Michigan State in the second round. In the ninth round, his final draft pick was used on Adam Burish. Smith also drafted forward Matt Ellison in the fourth round, who was later traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Patrick Sharp.
• In 2013, the Blackhawks beat the Boston Bruins 3-1 to take a 3-2 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final. Patrick Kane was the hero by scoring his eighth and ninth goals of the postseason. The first came late in the opening period, with the eventual game-winning goal coming early in the second frame. 
• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, June 22: Matt Henderson.

NHL Chirps

• Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that between 12 and 15 teams have inquired about the availability of New York Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller. The 25-year-old is a pending restricted free agent coming off a bridge contract with a $3.8 million cap hit. He’s a young and physical top-four defenseman, so it’s no shock that he’s drawing a ton of interest around the league.
• Seravalli also said that he thinks a JJ Peterka trade will materialize between now and the NHL Draft on Friday.
• Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the New Jersey Devils will not offer forward Cody Glass a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent on July 1. James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now breaks this report down from the hometown perspective.
• According to Michael Russo of The Athletic, the Minnesota Wild are close to hiring former Anaheim Ducks head coach Greg Cronin as the head coach for the Iowa Wild.
• Sportsnet’s Luke Fox reports that goaltender Ilya Samsonov will not re-sign with the Vegas Golden Knights and will hit the open market. This is a smart move because he is joining a relatively weak free agency class for netminders.