There once was a time when the Chicago Blackhawks were the team picking at the top of the NHL Draft. On Friday, in front of its home crowd, the team brought out the stars from those days to help make its latest pick.
Captain Jonathan Toews (No. 3 in 2006) and Patrick Kane (No. 1 in 2007) were called onto the stage by general manager to announce Chicago’s pick at No. 29.
The Blackhawks took defenceman Henri Jokiharju from Finland with the pick. Speaking to the media afterwards, Jokiharju was excited to be joining the three-time Stanley Cup champions in the Windy City.
The Blackhawks had a busy day even before the draft making big trades with the Arizona Coyotes and Columbus Blue Jackets. The team sent veteran defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson to Arizona for defenceman Connor Murphy and forward Laurent Dauphin. They then shipped forwards Artemi Panarin, Tyler Motte and a 2017 sixth-rounder to the Blue Jackets for forward Brandon Saad, goaltender Anton Forsberg and a 2018 fifth-round pick.
Toews spoke to the media after the draft and said it was a tough day for the team.
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