CHICAGO (CBS) — The Blackhawks announced Friday that they have acquired forwards Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh – as well as two conditional first-round draft picks from the Tampa Bay Lightning – in exchange for Brandon Hagel and two Blackhawks draft picks.
“I said a few weeks ago that we are rebuilding, and this is clearly the start of that,” Blackhawks General Manager Kyle Davidson said in a news release. “Getting two first round draft picks as well as two, young, NHL players helps us kickstart that process in a major way. We know that Brandon Hagel was a fan favorite—our fans loved him for all the reasons we loved him—and we know he be successful with the Lightning.”
Katchouk, 23, is in his first NHL season and has appeared in 38 games with the Lightning. He scored his first NHL goal on Dec. 6 against Philadelphia.
He spent three previous seasons with the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League.
Katchouk was first drafted in 2016 by the Lightning. He is a native of Vancouver.
Raddysh, 24, is also in his first season in the NHL and has been in 53 games with the Lightning – scoring five goals and adding seven assists. He also played previously for Syracuse.
He is a native of Caledon, Ontario.
Both Katchouk and Raddysh played on the gold medal-winning 2018 World Junior team, representing Canada.
Raddysh also played with Blackhawks forwards Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome on the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League.
For the first-round draft Tampa Bay picks, one conditions is that they are top-10 protected. If Tampa Bay’s 2023 first-round pick is in the top 10, Tampa will instead transfer its own unprotected first-round pick to the Blackhawks in 2025. If both of Tampa Bay’s 2023 and 2024 picks are in the top 10, Tampa Bay will transfer its unprotected first-round picks to the Blackhawks in 2025 and 2026.
Source: ChicagoCBS