The Chicago Blackhawks have been building up a great prospect pool with not only top picks, but steals in the draft over the past number of years. This started before Connor Bedard was even drafted as the team didn't expect to win the draft lottery and be able to draft a future superstar.
Chicago has had 11 first round picks in the last four years, so alone, that would do it if they continued to hit on these picks. Among these picks are Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar, Sam Rinzel, Bedard, Oliver Moore, Artyom Levshunov, Sacha Boisvert, Marek Vanacker, Anton Frondell. Vaclav Nestrasil, and Mason West. You will notice how a number of them are not only on the Blackhawks already, but playing sizeable roles.
But this drafting and developing goes back even further than that. The two drafts prior to that saw the team draft players like Lukas Reichel, Drew Commesso, Landon Slaggert, Wyatt Kaiser, Louis Crevier, Nolan Allan, Colton Dach, and Ethan Del Mastro.
It is very important to hit on players deeper in the draft because only Reichel and Allan were first round picks, but everyone but Commesso, who did appear in the NHL last season, have spots on the team or will at least play 20+ games this season.
It's not just about having so much talent, it's about how good the talent is. Some of these players like Bedard, Nazar, and Reichel shouldn't be considered prospects anymore because of the amount of games played in the NHL consistently. But the rest, until proven otherwise this season, are considered prospects right now.
A number of these players were high picks in the draft, and if they've stayed the course or improved upon expectations, that keeps the prospect pool highly ranked. There hasn't been anything damaging to the first round picks from this year, while Levshunov is already in the NHL while Boisvert is stepping into college after a solid season. Rinzel came out of the NCAA looking very good while there are so many NHL ready talents all fighting for spots on the Blackhawks.
Beyond just the draft picks and prospects mentioned, the others from recent drafts that need a light shined on them include Ryan Greene, Aidan Thompson, Adam Gajan, Roman Kantserov, Nick Lardis, and AJ Spellacy. We've seen two games from Greene and Spellacy had a great 2024 preseason, but those names will start to be heard more throughout this season.
The San Jose Sharks, Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, and Anaheim Ducks rank behind the Blackhawks in this ranking made by NHL Network, but I can't disagree with just how good the future looks for Chicago.
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