MONTREAL — The Chicago Blackhawks entered the 2022 NHL Upper Deck Draft at the Bell Center on Thursday without a first-round pick. By the time general manager Kyle Davidson finished dealing, they had three.
“Sitting where we are right now with the prospects that we just found, I’m happy as hell,” he said after the first round.
Whether the price was worth it remains to be seen.
“It was a pretty monumental day and a huge earth change for the Blackhawks organization,” Davidson said, “but it’s pretty much the unofficial beginning of where we’re headed and our rise there.”
Yes, the Blackhawks added to their prospect pool by selecting defenseman Kevin Korczynski at No. 7, center Frank Nazar at No. 13 and defenseman Sam Rinzel at No. 25. But to get the first two, they had to give up young forwards Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dutch.
DeBrincat is 24, Dach is 21. They have a combined 104 points this season.
Not long ago, they were considered key pieces in the Blackhawks’ rebuild. No longer.
“It’s hard to trade any young player and especially young players like we did today,” Davidson said. “It’s definitely not easy and it’s definitely not fun. Doing things you have to do to get where you want to go is not fun. There will be tough days like this where you will see familiar faces that we in management and the fans know and love but it is necessary to get to where we want to be.
“It’s all about process. Our job is to make sure that the assets we put into making our decisions are the right ones and justified. It’s up to us to turn these players into players for the long term and that process started today.”
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The Blackhawks traded DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators about three hours before the start of the draft for three picks: Ottawa’s first- and second-round selections (Nos. 7 and 39) in the 2022 draft and a third-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.
DeBrincat had 78 points in 82 games this season, leading Chicago with 41 goals to tie his NHL career high in 2018-19.
Dach, who was selected by Chicago with the No. 3 pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for the first and third rounds (Nos. 13 and 66) in the 2022 draft. He had 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 70 games this season.
Chicago then capped off a busy night by acquiring goaltender Petr Mrazek and the No. 25 pick in the 2022 draft in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second pick (No. 38) in the same draft. Davidson said the deal was made primarily to acquire Rinzel.
“I think we have some really high-quality prospects in our system,” Davidson said. “Coming in today, if I thought we were going to add Kevin Korczynski, Sam Rinzel and Frank Nazar, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
Davidson said the common thread between the three is elite skating skills.
Korczynski (6-foot-2, 185 pounds) had 65 points (four goals, 61 assists) in 67 regular season games for Seattle of the Western Hockey League this season. The then 18-year-old had 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in 25 playoff games.
Nazar (5-10, 180) had 70 points (28 goals, 42 assists) in 56 games with the USA Hockey Under-18 National Team Development Program team this season. He will attend the University of Michigan in the fall.
Rinzel (6-4, 180) split this season between Chaska High School in Minnesota and Waterloo of the United States Hockey League and collected 48 points (11 goals, 37 assists) in 48 games. He is committed to the University of Minnesota for next season.
Davidson said Blackhawks fans will have to be patient to see how this young core develops, especially with what Chicago gave up.
“I think it’s hard any time familiar faces walk through the door, and I understand that, but you know what?” he said. “We’re still going to have a team that loves to play for the city of Chicago and that loves to wear that Blackhawks sweater and will wear it every night.”
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