The Chicago Blackhawks took a step forward in developing their younger players when they won a playoff series this season, but that experience cost them a higher position in the first round of Tuesday’s NHL draft.

But members of the Hawks front office are confident they’ll get an elite player in what’s considered a draft fairly deep in talent.

General manager Stan Bowman and Mark Kelley, vice president of amateur scouting, on Wednesday addressed some of the pressing personnel issues facing the team. Here are three things we learned.

1. Stan Bowman appears to be leaning into a youth movement.

The Hawks seem open to trading or buying out veterans, and that speaks to how flexible they might be while negotiating with goaltender Corey Crawford.

There has been speculation that the Hawks would be receptive to buying out defensemen Olli Maatta and Brent Seabrook and forward Zack Smith and trading Brandon Saad, but the constraints of the salary cap, made stagnant because of COVID-19, might make some moves difficult.

What Bowman did indicate is he’s looking to move up top defensive prospects into the lineup sooner rather than later.

“It’s fair to say that over the next year or two we’re going to have (players move up) — some might even be here this year,” Bowman said in a Zoom call Wednesday. “We have hopes for (Ian) Mitchell and (Wyatt) Kalynuk, we expect them to be in the mix, and then it’s (Dennis) Gilbert and (Lucas) Carlsson. There’s a lot of names right there.”

Regarding Mitchell and Kalynuk, they chose the Hawks over other options in part because of the perceived fast track to compete for a roster spot.

“You’re always in a better position when you have more able bodies than you have spots,” Bowman said. "Then you’re able to move players out and trade away an NHL defenseman. So I think that’s something that we can look at when we get to it, but it’s always better when you’re trying to push one of those younger players into the lineup.

“That means you can move an established player. Around the league, there’s always teams looking for established NHL defensemen. If we get to that point, we’re dealing from a good position.”

The caveat is that such a trade might not happen right away, with other teams trying to re-sign players or free agents with a flat cap. Such an opportunity could present itself down the road if the Hawks aren’t in playoff contention by the trade deadline, though the field of trade partners could be narrower.

As for Crawford, The Athletic reported the Hawks offered the 35-year-old a one-year deal for $3.5 million. Sportsnet has written that Crawford and the Hawks don’t see “eye to eye” on the money and that the Hawks are one of the teams that have asked about trading for the Coyotes' Darcy Kuemper, who’s 30, has a cap hit of $4.5 million in each of the next two seasons and ranked fourth in goals against average (2.22) among goalies who started at least 20 regular-season games.

Crawford, an unrestricted free agent, said in August that he’s open to taking less money than this past season’s $6 million cap hit, but “I want to play a ton.”

Bowman remained “optimistic” about coming to terms on a contract with Crawford, with free agency set to start Oct. 9.

“I’m always optimistic. In every situation I’m always looking on the bright side,” Bowman said. “But until something comes to completion, I don’t know, I can’t really comment. … We still have time on our side here and that’s what we’re working through. We’re realistic that that’s a possibility, but that’s not what we’re focused on.”

Bowman and his staff currently are focused on the draft, but they have a number of restricted free agents to consider, including Dominik Kubalik — a process Bowman said is going to take time.

“Our job is to be planning on several different fronts,” he said. “We’re never assuming one thing is going to happen; we have to always be looking at the other options assuming that something doesn’t happen. We have a lot of contingency plans in place and it’s going to have to resolve itself in the coming week or two.”

2. The Hawks believe they can get a good player at No. 17 without reaching.

Amateur scouting director Mark Kelley said the talent in the draft goes three rounds deep.

“For us that’s the first four picks,” he said. The Calgary Flames will send an additional third-round pick to the Hawks. “After the third round I think the draft becomes, just like any other draft, I think there’s going to be outliers there. It’s the inside information we think we have that gives us indication that somebody’s on the right track projection-wise.”

Before the Hawks knocked out the Edmonton Oilers in the qualifiers, they were looking at a top-10 pick. At that time, some mock drafts had pegged goaltender Yaroslav Askarov or center Anton Lundell as destined to land in Chicago.

“Obviously would love to get a goaltender,” Kelley said. “There’s not a lot of goaltenders that have established themselves. … You’re not looking at them projection-wise and say this guy is a can’t-miss.

“It’s a hard position to project, it’s a hard position to develop. The development line can sometimes take six, seven years, and then when you start talking about when you draft them, how long you have them as far as contract situation, I think that’s why you see with a lot of NHL teams goaltenders that are playing weren’t necessarily drafted by those teams.”

General manager Stan Bowman said roster needs don’t come into play that early in the draft.

“My approach has always been you have to take the player you value the most, and the best asset at that point, whether it’s a player you have a lot of,” he said. “I don’t think you should be drafting for positional needs when you’re drafting in the first round.”

If the Hawks already have depth at an elite prospect’s position, “you can use him or you can move him (in a trade) and get additional pieces.”

3. Stan Bowman likes the player Brandon Pirri has become.

The Hawks drafted 25-year-old winger Dylan Sikura in the sixth round in 2014. He has been called up and sent down several times the past three seasons but never became a permanent fixture on the roster. The relationship finally ended this week with the Hawks trading Sikura to the Vegas Golden Knights for 2009 Hawks second-round pick Brandon Pirri.

“Looking at our team and looking at Dylan’s opportunity here, it didn’t probably work out the way he anticipated or we had,” Bowman said. “I think when that happens you start calling around to see if there’s a better opportunity for Dylan somewhere else, and in those conversations you look at what teams are willing to offer.”

When the Hawks traded the then-22-year-old Pirri in March 2014, the team was still a Stanley Cup contender.

“Brandon was also just starting out his NHL career, he was playing center back then,” Bowman said. “He’s changed a lot as a player, I think he’s certainly shown he can score at the NHL level. He’s had a 20-goal season (in 2014-15), he’s played for a few different teams.”

Bowman said Pirri’s hungry, has “an elite shot” and a great attitude.

“He’s transitioned more to be a winger than he was when he was younger,” he said. “I think he’s shown some more maturity, I think he understands how to contribute. … We want to see what he can do, give him an opportunity to come into training camp and show if he can be an NHL player for us.”

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