Pierre LeBrun posted a collection of rumblings from around the league at The Athletic on Wednesday, and it’s loaded with fascinating stuff. In it, he writes about the top of the draft being up for grabs — literally and figuratively. He writes the Sharks are “absolutely open to moving the No. 2 pick.” And he wrote this about the Blackhawks at No. 4 overall:
Chicago views the pick as a heck of an asset, given the talent available in the top five, so it would be need to be a darn good NHL player to move it, but the Blackhawks are open to it, per league sources.
LeBrun opens with some comments about this summer being a potential trade festival around the league with teams trying to make bold moves to maneuver their way up — either the standings or the draft board. A name he mentions that we’ve talked about here before is Anaheim forward Mason McTavish. He wrote, “I know for a fact that several teams have inquired about him.” I do wonder if the Blackhawks are in that group, and if there’s a potential fit with pieces on both sides to bring him to Chicago.
NEW for @TheAthletic, What happens when the NHL salary cap jumps in a major way — again — giving teams money to spend in a year with very few Grade A options to splurge on in the July 1 market?Trades, trades, trades.Could be a crazy-offseason. That, plus more updates in my…
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 27, 2026 Emily Kaplan at ESPN also shared some of the rumblings she’s hearing around the playoffs. In it, she discusses the next wave of “cornerstone contracts” in the league — Macklin Celebrini, Leo Carlsson and Connor Bedard. Here’s the update she shared on the Bedard front (with Carlsson):Both players effectively bet on themselves, putting long-term contract talks on the back burner this season — and both followed it up with massive production efforts that only strengthened their leverage. Now it becomes a bit of a game of chicken. Whichever side moves first could help define the next tier of superstar contracts. If one signs first, that deal immediately becomes a benchmark — not only on AAV, but structure, term, bonuses, and how aggressively teams are willing to pay elite young centers entering their prime. Many around the league are expecting Bedard to go first; there seems to be no rush on Carlsson and the Ducks’ side when I checked in this week.
Scott Powers posted Part 2 of his mailbag on Wednesday, and there are some interesting questions in there once again. He was asked specifically about drafted Carson Carels at No. 4 if the top three forwards are off the board, and Powers doesn’t commit to Carels being the next guy on the Blackhawks’ board (though he thinks the Hawks would take Ivar Stenberg at No. 1 if they had that pick). When asked about the Blackhawks looking to add a veteran to be in the room this year, his answer was interesting:I don’t think the priority is to bring in another veteran for the room. It’s more about bringing in players who can help the Blackhawks now. They’d love to bring in a top-six forward, a top-four defenseman and someone with some physicality who can help take this group to another level.
Powers is also asked what if the Blackhawks don’t make an impact move this summer up front. He caveats his answer that starting a new season with Anton Frondell, Roman Kantserov and Nick Lardis potentially being added to the top-six full-time is a big step forward in itself. I agree. But, like Powers, that doesn’t exclude the possibility that the Hawks look to do more to improve the offense with a young-but-more-established player. The USA plays Canada at the World Championship at 9:20 AM CT today. Blackhawks prospect Nathan Behm made it official this week, signing to play at Arizona State this coming season.A post shared by Sun Devil Hockey (@sundevilhockey)
A reminder: the 2026 NHL Draft Combine begins in Buffalo on Sunday. Steven Ellis at Daily Faceoff dropped his top 100 prospect rankings for the 2026 NHL Draft. Scott Wheeler at The Athletic profiled the top 20 overage prospects in the 2026 NHL Draft. The top name on his list, Egor Barabanov, is interesting to me as a potential second- or third-round pick for the Blackhawks in part because he’s headed to UMass this coming season, where he could play with Blackhawks prospect Václav Nestrašil. Here’s part of what Wheeler wrote about him:He’s a heady, skilled and competitive player who was named the Western Conference’s second-smartest player and its No. 1 playmaker in the OHL Coaches Poll this year.
Daxon Rudolph has pretty clearly established himself as the fifth-best defenseman in this draft class, a slight step below the top four but still a very strong top-ten pick candidate. Cam Robinson shared that he’s narrowed his college choice to three pretty good options.I’m told Daxon Rudolph has narrowed his NCAA options down to three schools:• Denver• Michigan State• Boston CollegeRudolph is expected to visit Denver in the coming days as programs continue pushing to finalize next year’s recruiting classes.
— Cam Robinson (@Hockey_Robinson) May 27, 2026 Frank Seravalli reported Jay Woodcroft interviewed for the LA Kings’ head coaching gig last week and is expected to interview with Toronto this week. Finally, the Carolina Hurricanes put on another defensive masterclass in Montreal last night and are now one win away from finally getting back to the Stanley Cup Final. Rod Brind’Amour’s team has put a stranglehold on anything and everything the Canadiens want to do offensively. It’s been incredibly impressive.BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter
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