Blackhawks add 8 new draft picks including Paul Ludwinski, Ryan Greene

MONTREAL — After a wild Thursday of trades at the NHL draft, the Blackhawks quietly spent Friday adding much-needed depth to their prospect pool.

They picked eight players during the second through seventh rounds, and all eight were forwards — addressing that weakness in their preexisting pool.

That came after the Hawks surprisingly chose two defensemen among their three first-round picks Friday: Kevin Korchinski (seventh overall pick) and Sam Rinzel (25th) joined forward Frank Nazar (13th).

Two centers picked in the second round –Paul Ludwinski (39th) and Ryan Greene (57th) –headlined the Friday picks.

The Hawks added wingers Gavin Hayes (66th) and Samuel Savoie (81st) and center Aidan Thompson (90th) in the third round. After a break in picks, the Hawks then added center Dominic James (173rd) and winger Nils Juntorp (188th) in the sixth round and center Riku Tohila (199th) in the seventh.

The Hawks were part of three minor trades. They dealt the 94th pick of the third round to the Coyotes for the Stars’ 2023 third-round pick, then acquired the 188th pick used on Juntorp from the Hurricanes in exchange for their 2023 sixth-round pick.

They traded the 167th pick to the Penguins for the rights to 22-year-old prospect forward Liam Gorman, an unsigned former sixth-round pick currently playing for Princeton.

This story will be updated.

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