Hawks happy to add depth down middle
It was a mostly satisfying day Saturday for the Blackhawks, who used six of their seven picks on centers during the second day of the NHL entry draft.
The Hawks went into the draft looking to add depth down the middle in the organization and left Montreal having accomplished that goal in addition to landing the big defenseman they wanted in the first round in Dylan Olsen.
"We're happy with what we got," general manager Dale Tallon said. "It fills a void up the middle.
"We needed them. It's an important part of your team. Some of them can play the wing, too, but we got some speed, we got some skill, and we got some size."
With their second-round pick Saturday (59th overall), the Hawks took center Brandon Pirri of the Georgetown Raiders.
Pirri ranked third in the Ontario Junior Hockey League with 46 goals and 94 points in 44 games with the Streetsville Derbys and Georgetown Raiders. The 6-foot, 160-pounder will attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in the fall.
In the third round the Hawks selected center Daniel DeLisle out of Totino-Grace High School in Minnesota. Their fourth-round pick was Everett center Byron Froese.
DeLisle led Totino-Grace in Fridley, Minn., with 30 goals, 22 assists and 52 points in 24 games. He has committed to the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he will be teammates with Olsen.
Froese had 38 assists and 57 points with Everett in the Western Hockey League. He was a member of Team Canada at the 2009 Under-18 World Championships.
The Hawks used their other picks on Swedish center Marcus Kruger, Cumberland Grads center David Pacan, Cedar Rapids defenseman Paul Phillips and Quebec Remparts center David Gilbert.
The Hawks will get a closer look at their new draft picks at the team's annual prospects camp, set to start July 6 at Johnny's Ice House near the United Center.
But before that camp comes free agency on July 1. Whether or not the Hawks are active likely depends on if they can re-sign Martin Havlat over the next several days.
Havlat, who could walk as an unrestricted free agent, had been offered a one-year contract by the Hawks in initial negotiations. Tallon met several times in Montreal with Allan Walsh, who is Havlat's agent.
"We had some strong talks, but there is no contract as of yet," Tallon said.
The Hawks have signed one of their key restricted free agents in center Dave Bolland to a five-year, $18 million deal. Tallon said he also has had talks with goalie Nikolai Khabibulin's agent. It's believed any contract offer for Khabibulin would be for one year.
The biggest trade at the draft Saturday saw the Florida Panthers deal the negotiating rights to free-agent defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to the Calgary Flames in exchange for the negotiating rights to free-agent defenseman Jordan Leopold and a third-round draft pick.
The Flames now have exclusive negotiating rights until July 1 with Bouwmeester, who is considered to be the best unrestricted free-agent defenseman available.
Should the Flames sign Bouwmeester, it could mean they will start looking to deal defenseman Dion Phaneuf.