BUFFALO, N.Y. — Kyle Davidson used to attend all of 60 or so of the Blackhawks‘ mind-numbing prospect interviews during NHL combine week.
This year, the Hawks’ general manager attended only 25 or 30 interviews with the most intriguing prospects, letting scouting director Mike Doneghey otherwise run things. Davidson used his newfound free time to meet with other GMs around the league.
Such is one reflection of Davidson’s growing interest in making trades to inject established talent into his extremely young NHL roster.
“I’ve talked to every team, so [I] have a pretty good understanding of what’s going on around the league and what’s out there, and also what’s not out there,” Davidson said Friday.
“We’re certainly engaged in trying to be aggressive and seeing what we can do to help the group, because we believe in the group as currently constructed. We think it would be a good thing to add, if at all possible.”
Last December, Davidson said he wanted to give the youth movement time to mature before assessing and filling its holes. Six months later, he’s starting to see where those holes are.
“We have more information on at this point,” he said, “which allows us to be much more specific and targeted in what we might want.”
One of those targets: a veteran defenseman. That’s because the Hawks’ all-24-or-younger defensive corps struggled down the stretch this season following Connor Murphy’s departure.
“We wanted to see how it went,” Davidson said. “It didn’t go quite the way we were hoping to give us that full shot in the arm, that ‘set it and forget it’ [feeling]. So it’s probably something we want to at least explore.”
A left-handed defenseman would likely make more sense, joining Alex Vlasic and Wyatt Kaiser on that side of the depth chart. The Hawks still maintain immense belief in righties Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel, plus Louis Crevier has established himself.
Davidson’s overarching challenge is that for a second consecutive summer, the league is overflowing with prospective buyers and devoid of sellers. The Canucks are the only team actively rebuilding, even though several others logically should.
“There’s a lot of teams looking to add,” Davidson said. “So if you’re looking to find a player, they probably want a player (or players) back. … It feels like there’s much more of a desire for ‘hockey trades’ rather than a player for futures or prospects.”
The Hawks don’t have any prime-aged players to dangle in negotiations. They can now offer up young players with some NHL experience, which they couldn’t offer previously. Nevertheless, caution is required.
“I do believe that, given the youth throughout our lineup, we have to be careful about not moving too many pieces for one,” Davidson added. “It’s delicate right now…to not go too far blowing holes in the roster for one thing or that may or may not be improvement.”
The fourth overall pick is one valuable asset that Davidson is very open to moving and that many other teams have shown interest in.
“There’s been a lot of calls to move up,” he said. “It’s been a lot busier — way busier — in terms of trying to inquire about our pick at No. 4 for teams behind us than any year I’ve been doing this. I didn’t really get many calls on Nos. 1 and 2 — that’s a little high. No. 3 last year, [I got] one or two calls. This year, it’s been pretty heavy traffic.”
Centers locked down
A veteran center is likely not on the Hawks’ wish list. Davidson believes they’re already set down the middle with youngsters Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar and Anton Frondell.
Indeed, that means Frondell’s trial run at center during the final month of the season — even though he typically played wing in Sweden — convinced Davidson he should stick there.
“I really like [Frondell’s] hockey sense and two-way game and strength down the middle with a little bit of size,” Davidson said. “We’re working toward making his primary position center.
“I love having depth at center. … If those are three guys that we’re hopping out over the boards one-two-three, then I’m pretty excited about that.”
That means Oliver Moore, who played better at center than wing this season, will likely get pushed back to the wing to start next season. He (and Ryan Greene) being able to play center if needed, though, helps with roster flexibility.
Analyzing draft class
If the Hawks end up keeping the No. 4 pick, it won’t be because they know for sure which prospects will be available and which one they’ll take. Davidson claimed he has “no clue” what the Maple Leafs, Sharks and Canucks plan to do ahead of them.
“You read stuff, you hear stuff, but until the names are called and they’re not available on the draft board anymore, I don’t really take too much stock in it,” he said. “You’re planning for a bunch of different scenarios there at four.”
One particularly complicated scenario entails the top three forwards — Gavin McKenna, Ivar Stenberg and Caleb Malhotra — going 1-2-3, forcing the Hawks to choose among the large group of defensemen.
Interestingly, they got to directly contrast Chase Reid, Carson Carels and Keaton Verhoeff on Thursday afternoon when their interviews with those three defensemen lined up back-to-back-to-back.
Meanwhile, Davidson also senses more passion from his scouts about possible second- and third-round prospects than in years past. They weren’t excited about many second-round options last season, which influenced the decision to package picks to trade up for Mason West at 29th overall.
Russian factors
During the process of signing Russian prospect Roman Kantserov, Davidson was impressed by how much Kantserov’s English fluency has improved over the past few years.
“On our meetings, there was no interpreter necessary,” Davidson said. “He would [take] questions, listen, respond and ask his own questions.”
Kantserov’s Russian team, Magnitogorsk, has two former Rockford IceHogs players in Robin Press and Luke Johnson, and Kantserov intentionally spent time with them this season to improve his English.
That reduces the Hawks’ perceived need to employ a Russian veteran to help Kantserov, although independently from that, Davidson said re-signing pending free agent Ilya Mikheyev is still a possibility.
The Hawks had reportedly given Mikheyev permission to discuss his value with other teams prior to July 1 and compare the Hawks’ contract offer to hypothetical others. But Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman recently reported the NHL stomped out that effort, considering it illegal tampering.
Notes
Teuvo Teravainen recently underwent surgery following the world championships, but he should be fully recovered by July, Davidson said. It shouldn’t affect his availability for next season.
The Hawks could keep embattled veteran Andre Burakovsky for next season. Davidson said he currently isn’t planning on executing any contract buyouts this summer, although that could change based on who they’re able to acquire.
Davidson believes the Hawks “came out pretty well” to recoup a third-round pick in the Jack Pridham situation, labeling occasional prospect non-signings as an unavoidable “side effect” of their enormous prospect pool.
The Hawks and Connor Bedard are being exceptionally silent and private about their contract negotiations. Davidson had no update to share. It doesn’t sound like it will get done anytime soon.
