Traveling men

Calgary Flames v Chicago Blackhawks / Patrick McDermott/GettyImages

In what can only be described as a poor peformance last night against the Ottawa Senators (2-0 shutout loss), the Chicago Blackhawks will travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers. With just 19 shots on goal and a less than desirable viewing (opinion) fans alike will trust that head coach Luke Richardson sends a message to start off well when taking on the Flyers.

Philadelphia for its part has been one of the leagues surprise teams. With 82 points, the Flyers currently reside in 7th place in the conference and hold a mark of 36-28-10. The record would indicate, righltly so, that they are involved in a lot of close matchups.

Led by veteran forward Travis Konecny (64 points in 68 games), the team is built around depth. With 14 skaters with at least 20 points it’s common for the Flyers to wear down opponents with a well balanced attack. It has also been the emergence of rookie netminder Samuel Ersson that has stabilized the crease (when things could have been very chaotic). The 24 year old Swedish goalie has posted 3 straight starts with a .900+ save % and will likely look to continue this streak against a Hawks team that has trouble hitting the back of the net of late.

Connor Bedard and company, having just gone on a road trip, will look to have a more spirited start to the match and look to capitalize on any opportunities that come along early. A power play just 9 seconds into last night’s game turned into a turnover that led to a short handed goal for instance. It’s these type of things that get a young team into trouble against a team with a more experienced roster.

Can the Blackhawks upend the potential playoff upstart Flyers? Perhaps, however we here at Blackhawk Up are just looking for the effort to be there this weekend. Predictions? Post in the comments!

Ottawa Senators v Chicago Blackhawks / Patrick McDermott/GettyImages

Lottery Picks Coming into Focus for the 2024 NHL Draft

Boston University Terriers v Boston College Eagles / Winslow Townson/GettyImages

With the season coming to an end soon, the focus will now shift to the upcoming 2024 NHL Entry Draft for those fan bases that cheer for teams currently at the bottom of the standings. At present the bottom 11 teams look this:

32. San Jose

31. Chicago

30. Anaheim

29. Columbus

28. Arizona

27. Montreal

26. Ottawa

25. Calgary

24. Buffalo

23. Seattle

22. Pittsburgh

We make special note of these 11 teams in ode to the fact that a team may only move up 10 spots at the maximum or in other words; these are the only teams at the present moment that can win the NHL Draft Lottery. So what would one of these teams get with the #1 pick? That answer is easy; Macklin Celebrini. Still the rest of the draft has been more of a mystery throughout the season.

As we enter April and with just 3 months until the draft, has the top half of the 1st round started to come into focus?

Minnesota v Michigan State / Michael Miller/ISI Photos/GettyImages

First up is Artyom Levshunov. The Michigan State Spartan is the odds on favorite to go 2nd overall. With size, skill, and at a premium position it looks like the Belarusian defender will likely go 2nd or 3rd overall. As of this writing it appears that scouts across the board all generally favor the likes of Ivan Demidov, Berkly Catton, and Cayden Lindstrom as 3 players that all have top 5 talent.

When it comes to the draft, the strength appears to be on the defensive side and thusly players like Sam Dickinson, Anton Silayev, and Carter Yakemchuk should all be selected in the 6-12 range. After the main defenders go there appears to be a good run on high floor forwards such as Konsta Helenius and Liam Greentree.

Two wildcards could be Cole Eiserman and Zayne Parekh. Both offensive players that offer a team a ton of excitement but also perhaps not the well rounded games that merit a top 10 selection. Expectation will be that these 2 are going to be selected in the early teens.

When it comes to the last 4 spots of the first half it appears that there will be a solid group of prospects competing for those draft slots. Tij Iginla, Zeev Buium (D), Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Igor Chernyshov. Michael Hage, and Trevor Connelly all will look to improve their draft stock as they wind down their seasons.

After the top half of the 1st round it looks like the group will be a big one in which each team drafting could have varying opinions on their outlooks. A player like Ryder Ritchie for instance could go 18th to a team that wants his particular skill set or he could slide another 25 spots and go early in the 2nd round. It just depends, but make no mistake about the top half of the 1st round player pool has come into focus of late.