NHL Draft blog: Blackhawks open for business?

The first round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft is set for Thursday night in Montreal. In the hours leading up to the draft, TSN.ca looks at the latest news and rumours. Will the New Jersey Devils be active on Thursday and could they land Alex DeBrincat?

We still don't have a definitive answer as who the Montreal Canadiens will be selecting with the first overall pick on Thursday evening. Will it be Shane Wright or, perhaps, Juraj Slafkovsky?

Things are really coming down to the wire with the No. 1 pick of the NHL Draft. As of now, neither Shane Wright nor Juraj Slafkovsky has been told if they will be selected by Montreal. However, Slafkovsky did have meeting with Canadiens owner Geoff Molson this morning…

Emily Kaplan reports that neither of the two has received any assurances from the Habs, but Slafkovsky did have a meeting with owner Geoff Molson earlier in the day.

The Canadiens will be selecting first overall for the sixth time and first since 1980 when they selected Doug Wickenheiser out of the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats.

We've mentioned him a couple of times already, but the sense is growing that Alex DeBrincat is in his final day as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks are still actively trying to trade Alex DeBrincat to get into the first round tonight. At this point, the sense I get is it'd be a bigger surprise if they *didn't* trade him than if they did.

The Athletic's Mark Lazerus is reporting the Blackhawks are actively trying to move the former Erie Otters star as a means to get back into the first round. Lazerus notes that it would be a bigger surprise if the 24-year-old DeBrincat wasn't traded on Thursday.

As previously mentioned in regards to Jakob Chychrun, the New Jersey Devils are