The Blackhawks' second first-round pick in 2024 came from the Lightning in a trade. It will be 20th overall following Tampa Bay's elimination from the playoffs.
The Chicago Blackhawks got the best outcome they could this season when the team that determined their second first-round pick of 2024, the Tampa Bay Lightning, was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
This first-round pick will be 20th overall. It's the final piece in the Brandon Hagel trade from March 18, 2022.
The Blackhawks previously got forwards Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk, and a first-round 2023 draft pick that turned out to be 19th overall. General manager Kyle Davidson used that asset to select Oliver Moore, the speedy University of Minnesota forward who's ranked No. 1 in Chicago's system in THN's 2024 Future Watch.
This 2024 first-round pick was top-10 protected, but as the Lightning made the playoffs this season, the pick had to be from 17-32.
The Lightning were eliminated in Round 1 of the playoffs in five games by the Florida Panthers, who went to the Stanley Cup Final last season and finished second in the Eastern Conference. Now that all eight first-round series have concluded, picks 17-23 have been set.
Tampa Bay had the fifth-best record in the regular season among the eight teams that were eliminated in the first round, meaning the Washington Capitals, New York Islanders, and Vegas Golden Knights land in spots 17-19 in the draft and the Lightning's pick (owned by Blackhawks) is at 20th.
The Blackhawks were already locked into the second-best odds to win the draft lottery, at 13.5%, with their own first-round 2024 selection after the team finished 31st in the NHL. The lottery will take place on Tuesday, May 7.
Chicago also has three second-round picks, two third-round picks, a fifth-round pick, and a sixth-round pick in 2024.
The Blackhawks are stocked with a lot of good defenseman prospects, so the expectation is that Chicago may draft not one, but two forwards with its two first-round picks this year.
Beckett Sennecke (RW, Oshawa, OHL), Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (F, Mora IK, Sweden), Ryder Ritchie (F, Prince Albert, WHL), and Sacha Boisvert (C, Muskegon, USHL) are four forwards playing in various leagues ranked around 20 by multiple sites this year. Expect to hear most or all of these names in the first round.
The Blackhawks have a great opportunity to really bolster their prospect pool in needed areas so that they are really strong all the way through.