The Chicago Blackhawks have traded prospect Jack Pridham to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a third-round pick in 2027.
The Chicago Blackhawks selected Jack Pridham in the third round of the 2024 NHL Draft with the 92nd overall pick. Since then, he has played for the Kitchener Rangers and has developed into a promising prospect. He was the OHL’s second leading goal scorer in the regular season, only behind another Blackhawks prospect in Marek Vanacker.
Pridham was one of the best overage OHL players all season long. He drove offense for Kitchener through to the Memorial Cup Final, where he had a goal and an assist in a championship-clinching victory.
During the final game, however, it became more and more obvious that the Blackhawks were going to lose Pridham. They had to sign him, or have him commit to the NCAA, if they wanted to extend his rights by two years. Neither of those things happened by the June 1st deadline.
One day after the Memorial Cup, instead of letting him go for nothing, the Blackhawks traded Pridham’s rights to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a 2027 third-round pick. He is now expected to announce which NCAA program he’ll be joining in the next couple of days.
The Blackhawks selected a great player who developed into a nice asset. It didn’t work out, but Kyle Davidson made sure not to let him go for nothing. With how deep their prospect pool is, losing Pridham shouldn’t loom too large.
This is turning out to be a great stretch for the Lightning prospect pool. On Sunday, they started with Noah Steen scoring an overtime winning goal for Norway to clinch the Bronze Medal.
Later in the evening, Sam O’Reilly won the Memorial Cup MVP, one night before acquiring his Kitchener teammate in Pridham. O’Reilly is just the fourth player ever to win the regular season MVP, the Memorial Cup, and the Memorial Cup MVP in the same season.
For being a playoff team year in and year out, they are in a decent spot with their prospects. The Blackhawks are looking to replicate that level of success across all levels, but they will be without Pridham on their side.
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