Morning Chirps: Top Three Still Uncertain, Kurashev’s Future

Draft week is here! This should be an eventful week across the NHL as we get closer to Friday’s first round of the NHL Entry Draft. There is still a lot of uncertainty about who the top two picks will be and how that might benefit the Chicago Blackhawks. No matter what happens this week, we’ll be on top of it all.

Blackhawks Chirps

• As expected, defenseman T.J. Brodie cleared waivers, and the final year of his contract will be bought out. It will be interesting to see if he lands another NHL contract this summer.
• Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times mentioned in his offseason primer that the Blackhawks are not expected to make a qualifying offer to Philipp Kurashev. It’s crazy to think he went from being Connor Bedard’s running mate to out of the organization in a year. He will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and will find a new team in quick order.
• In his latest mock draft for FloHockey, Chris Peters has the San Jose Sharks taking Anton Frondell with the second pick and Michael Misa falling to the Blackhawks at three. This is a dream scenario for most Blackhawks fans and likely the front office, too! Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now gives the Sharks’ perspective on the Frondell noise and a possible trade with the Blackhawks.
• On this date in 2000, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild filled out their rosters at the NHL Expansion Draft held in Calgary. The Blackhawks’ protected players included Tony Amonte, Michael Nylander, Steve Sullivan, Jocelyn Thibault, and Alex Zhamnov. They lost defenseman Radim Bicanek to the Blue Jackets and center Jeff Daw to the Wild.
• One year later, the Blackhawks had a pair of first-round picks in the NHL Entry Draft and selected forward Tuomo Ruutu (9^th overall) and goaltender Adam Munro (29^th overall). Ruutu scored 48 goals and 108 points in 228 games before being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2008 for Andrew Ladd. Munro appeared in 17 NHL games before he headed to Europe in 2006. The other notable pick from this draft class was netminder Craig Anderson in the third round.
• June 23, 2017, was a busy day for general manager Stan Bowman. He started by trading Niklas Hjalmarsson to the Arizona Coyotes for Laurent Dauphin and Connor Murphy. Next, he traded Artemi Panarin to the Blue Jackets for goaltender Anton Forsberg and Brandon Saad. Later that evening, he drafted defenseman Henri Jokiharju with the 29^th overall pick. Only three of the nine players from this draft class played in the NHL, and none of them are still with the Blackhawks organization.
• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, June 23: Ken Doraty, Gaye Stewart, and Austin Wagner.

NHL Chirps

•  Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch has the latest on the negotiations between the Ottawa Senators and Claude Giroux. He believes Giroux is looking for around $4 million, but the Senators are below that mark. If he signs a one-year deal, he is eligible for performance incentives, including games played, points, and team playoff success.
• According to Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe, the Boston Bruins and Morgan Geekie have had “preliminary” discussions about a new contract. The 26-year-old restricted free agent scored a career-high 33 goals last season and is arbitration-eligible. It feels that both sides want to get a deal done, so this might be a situation where both parties wait to see who blinks first.
• Matthew Tkachuk played the entire Stanley Cup playoffs with a torn adductor muscle. He told reporters, including Florida Hockey Now, that he is 50-50 on whether he needs offseason surgery.
• Get the latest on the Noah Dobson situation with the New York Islanders from Russ Macias of NYI Hockey Now.
• NHL Birthday Roll Call, June 23: Reg Noble, Felix Potvin, Derek Boogard, Brooks Laich, Jordan Nolan, and Lawson Crouse.