The Chicago Blackhawks have a lot of good draft picks playing in the NCHC. Some of them were honored for the way they played in November.
The Chicago Blackhawks are struggling at the NHL level but there are a couple of good young players in the lineup to be excited about. There are also some really talented kids worldwide developing their skills so they can make it to the NHL as Blackhawks.
Quite a few Chicago hockey prospects play in college right now. Two of them received some heavy praise from their conference this week. Now that November is over, the NCHC revealed their “Player of the Month”, “Rookie of the Month”, and “Goalie of the Month”
The Player of the Month Award went to Aidan Thompson. Thompson is a forward at the University of Denver. Chicago drafted him in the third round (90th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft.
Thompson's 11 points during November led the NCHC, as did his 1.38 points per game. Six of those 11 points were goals, which tied for the conference lead for the month.
He ended the month on a 14-game point streak, the longest that a Denver player has had since Bobby Brink also had a 14-game streak in 2022. Now, Brink is a regular contributor to the Philadelphia Flyers so Thompson would like to follow that path.
After winning the National Championship in 2024, Denver looks poised to do it again. They are certainly one of the five teams that have the best chance. If they go far, you know Thompson will be one of their stars.
The Rookie of the Month Award for November went to Sacha Boisvert of North Dakota. Boisvert had five goals and three assists for eight points in 10 games during November. That is double the amount of points he had during October so it is fair to say he is getting used to the NCAA style now.
Boisvert led all rookies in goals and points for the month so the sky is the limit for him the rest of the way. That’s great news for one of Chicago’s first-round (18th overall) picks in 2024.
It wouldn’t be surprising if he now went on a tear to help North Dakota reach a different level heading into the second half of the year. They want to be the biggest NCHC threat to Denver this year and Boisvert will be a big part of it if they are.
The Goalie of the Month honor went to Kaidan Mbereko of Colorado College. He is one of the three that is not associated with the Chicago Blackhawks but he sure was good in net during November.
It is important for the future of the Blackhawks to see these guys develop. They need their high-end picks like Boisvert to work out and they need to hit on a few mid-round diamonds like Thompson. It will be interesting to see how the year goes for them moving forward after a big November.
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