The 2023 NHL Draft is quickly approaching, and trade talk is set to increase daily until the event begins Wednesday night. Per The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta, at least four teams are actively engaged in trade talks involving first-round picks in this year’s draft – starting with the Washington Capitals and their eighth overall pick.
Washington will at least attempt to move up in the draft, Pagnotta said, although it seems unlikely any team among the seven slated to pick before them would be willing to trade down unless it’s for an exorbitant price. It’s no secret the Capitals have their focus zeroed in on selecting Matvei Michkov, and with interest in the Russian winger heating up, it seems less and less likely he’d be available to them at the eighth overall selection. The only plausible scenarios for Washington would involve Montreal’s fifth overall pick or Arizona’s sixth overall pick – the top four teams in the draft likely have their hearts set on particular selections already, and Montreal’s or Arizona’s interest level in Michkov remains unclear.
More potential developments on the draft floor:
- The Flyers would like to add another pick later in the first round after the seventh overall selection, Pagnotta says. Previous reports indicated the Flyers have turned down trade offers for forward Scott Laughton that included a late first-round pick, although it’s unclear whether the selections offered were in the 2023 draft. The team has plenty of trade chips to dangle, including Laughton, Kevin Hayes, Travis Konecny, and others, all of whom could likely net the pick Philadelphia is looking for.
- One team that seems like a natural fit for one of those deals is the St. Louis Blues, who Pagnotta notes continue to dangle either the 25th overall pick (acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs) or the 29th overall pick (obtained from the Dallas Stars via the New York Rangers) – but not both. With the team looking to deal from their pool of defensemen, a trade offer based around a late first and one of Colton Parayko, Marco Scandella, or Nick Leddy could net them a solid young piece on offense.
- Another team shopping their late first-round selection is the Toronto Maple Leafs, who Pagnotta says are open to moving the 28th overall pick “for immediate help.” With defenseman Jake Muzzin destined for long-term injured reserve, Toronto has nearly $15MM in cap space to add to their roster but still needs to extend goalie Ilya Samsonov and replace five to seven forward spots. The Leafs have yet to be linked to any specific trade targets.
A lot of observers, the moderator of this site included, seem convinced that none of the teams picking 1-4 will pick Michkov. Such an assumption can’t be made. If there’s one thing past drafts have told us is that we don’t know what’ll happen till it happens.
That’s certainly true – especially with how up and down Michkov’s stock has been. However, Columbus has explicitly stated they’ll be taking a center at 3rd overall, and most reporting out of San Jose has alluded to the same.
Teams are more likely to send up false flags at this stage than reveal their true plans – especially since their options are open to change with who is picked before them…
@renegade 5 – “With the first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, the Montreal Canadiens pick…Shane Wright. Just kidding, we pick Juraj Slafkovsky!” It still haunts to this day. ;)
@Josh – “2017 Unrestricted Free Agents” (Look familiar?) This is getting damn aggravating, isn’t it?
You are correct but Michkov has quite the cloud hovering over him and I don’t see him in the top five.
Michkov is a huge gamble.
General Managers usually state their intentions and then turn around and do the complete opposite of what they originally stated. Former GM Bobby Clarke is just one of many examples of GM’s that put up false flags.
San Jose is taking Michov. They’re several years away from contending anyway.
Blues: PLEASE–trade Krug. Keep Parayko. We need retooling not total fooling.