The Blackhawks have continued to do well by drafting quality NHL talent in the first round, with one clear exception.
Since 2011, the Chicago Blackhawks have drafted 14 times in the first round. Only one those players has outright missed becoming a contributing NHLer.
Five of those 14 picks have come in the past two years as general manager Kyle Davidson as stockpiled draft assets. The Blackhawks have two more opportunities to select talented players in the first round in 2024 at picks No. 2 and No. 20.
Whether the Blackhawks have picked high in the first round or later, they have found a way to acquire players who eventually come in and help or become solid NHLers. Chicago had two first-round picks in 2011 – Mark McNeill and Phillip Danault – and missed with McNeill who became a career AHLer.
But the Blackhawks have had a nice stretch thereafter.
First-Round Picks Since 2011
- Teuvo Teravainen (18th in 2012)
- Ryan Hartman (30th in 2013)
- Nick Schmaltz (20th in 2014)
- Henri Jokiharju (29th in 2017)
- Adam Boqvist (8th in 2018)
- Nicolas Beaudin (27th in 2018)
- Kirby Dach (3rd in 2019)
- Lukas Reichel (17th in 2020)
- Nolan Allan (32nd in 2021)
- Kevin Korchinski (7th in 2022)
- Frank Nazar (13th in 2022)
- Sam Rinzel (25th in 2022)
- Connor Bedard (1st in 2023)
- Oliver Moore (19th in 2023)
Three of those players from the last three drafts (Allan, Rinzel, and Moore) have yet to break into the NHL, but are among the top 10 prospects in the system in THN's 2024 Future Watch and on their way. Moore, at the University of Minnesota, is rated as the No. 1 prospect. Rinzel is his teammate on the Gophers as both head into their sophomore seasons.
Bedard and Korchinski looked great as rookies this season while Nazar made his debut with three games in April. He'll be in line to play a full rookie season in 2024-25.
Other than Reichel, who had an up-and-down year, but could still become a solid NHLer, nobody else is left on the Blackhawks from the group they've drafted in the first round since 2012.
Teravainen is on the Carolina Hurricanes, Hartman is on the Minnesota Wild, Schmaltz is on Utah, Jokiharju is on the Buffalo Sabres, Boqvist is on the Columbus Blue Jackets and Dach is on the Montréal Canadiens. Every forward mentioned is a top-six player and a solid NHLer. The two defensemen, Jokiharu and Boqvist, are both second to third pairing NHL D-men, but pretty good regardless.
So who is the player I left off there? Beaudin. He is the one missed first-round pick by the Blackhawks since 2011, but Boqvist and forward Philipp Kurashev were both drafted in 2018 as well. Kurashev had a breakout year in 2023-24 skating mostly with Bedard.
Beuadin had a decent AHL rookie season in 2019-20, but the QMJHL product didn't progress in second and third seasons as a pro.
Beaudin played in 22 NHL games across three seasons, but ended up being swapped in a trade to the Canadiens for Cameron Hillis a couple of weeks after Beaudin didn't make the Blackhawks in 2022 and was sent through waivers.
Though the 24-year-old's time in Laval of the AHL was better than it was on the Rockford IceHogs, he spent part of the 2023-24 season playing overseas in Czechia. Beaudin hasn't played an NHL game since January of 2022 and hasn't recorded a point since April of 2021.
The Blackhawks are not only fortunate to have been able to hit on all of these first-round picks, it is a testament to the strong scouting and drafting the organization has had, even under former GM Stan Bowman.
With stronger, hungrier hockey management under Davidson, talented young players continue to join the Blackhawks. Every team misses on high picks, but to keep hitting at this success rate will have the Blackhawks running well for a long time.