Morning Chirps: NHL Draft Begins, New CBA Brings Changes

Draft day is finally here! All the prospect research and mock drafts are over. Tonight, we will find out who will be on the board when the Chicago Blackhawks pick at No. 3. We’ll keep you abreast of all the picks and transactions made over the week.

Blackhawks Chirps

• The 2025 NHL Entry Draft starts tonight and will conclude tomorrow afternoon. Check out our Quick Draft Guide to learn how to watch, where the Blackhawks are picking, and who they might be targeting.
• Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times adds to the speculation that the San Jose Sharks are taking Anton Frondell at No. 3. Getting Michael Misa at No. 3 would be amazing, but if the pick is Frondell, the Blackhawks are still getting a special player. We have just a few hours left to wait!
• On this date in 1972, Blackhawks legend Bobby Hull signed a 10-year contract with the Winnipeg Jets to leave the NHL and join the upstart World Hockey Association. His deal was worth a record $2.75 million over its duration. He scored 303 goals and 638 points in 411 WHA games and helped the Jets win three WHA championships. He won the Gary L. Davidson Award for being the league’s most valuable player twice.
• In 1998, the Blackhawks used the eighth overall pick of the NHL Entry Draft to take forward Mark Bell. They selected his future linemate, Tyler Arnason, in the seventh round. Bell and Arnason played 584 games in Chicago, scoring 129 goals and accumulating 290 points. The only other player from this draft to make the NHL was defenseman Kent Huskins, taken in the sixth round. However, none of his 318 career games came in a Blackhawks uniform.
• On that same day, the Philadelphia Flyers traded blueliner Paul Coffey to the Blackhawks for a future fifth-round pick. The Hall of Famer’s time in Chicago was rather forgettable, as it lasted only 10 games before he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for Nelson Emerson.
• In 2014, the Blackhawks took Nick Schmaltz with the 20^th pick of the NHL Entry Draft. He scored 29 goals and 91 points in 162 games before he was traded to the Arizona Coyotes for Dylan Strome. The only other player from another disappointing Bowman draft to play in the NHL was sixth-rounder Dylan Sikura.
• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, June 27: Lou Jankowski and Doug Shelton

NHL Chirps

• According to multiple reports, the NHL and NHLPA are close to finalizing a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Some of the reported changes include full-time emergency backup goalies, an 84-game regular season, maximum six-year contracts for free agents (seven for extensions), and a playoff salary cap to eliminate the LTIR loophole.
• The Florida Panthers were busy on Thursday. First, they acquired goaltender Daniil Tarasov from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 2025 first-round draft pick. Later, they traded prospect Justin Sourdif to the Washington Capitals for a 2026 second-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick. The 2020 third-round pick had 16 goals and 34 points in 43 AHL games.
• The San Jose Sharks announced they are buying out the final year of veteran defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s contract. He played the most games in franchise history by a blueliner with 1,323.
• The Minnesota Wild made a pair of trades heading into the draft. They traded forward Freddy Gaudreau to the Seattle Kraken for a 2025 fourth-round pick. They also acquired forward Brendan Gaunce for Cameron Butler.
• According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Anaheim Ducks are expected to hire former Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft as an assistant coach to serve on Joel Quenneville’s staff.
• The Dallas Stars re-signed captain Jamie Benn to a one-year contract extension worth a base of $1 million, plus an additional $3 million in potential performance bonuses.