The Blackhawks have done a solid job drafting and developing the next wave that could lead Chicago back to success.
The Blackhawks have done a solid job drafting and developing the next wave that could lead Chicago back to success.
The Chicago Blackhawks' youth movement is in full swing and gaining speed, even at the end of the 2023-24 season. Over the past few days, defenseman Ethan Del Mastro and forward Frank Nazar III joined the chunk of Chicago's promising talent that's already in the NHL.
More kids will be arriving, some as early as next season.
From the trade deadline in 2021 to the trade deadline in 2023, the Blackhawks did a complete teardown of the team. It paid off the best way possible, when Chicago won the 2023 draft lottery and drafted a generational talent in Connor Bedard. While Bedard's arrival didn't launch the youth movement (that began with the Brandon Hagel trade in 2021), it did heighten the trajectory of the team's rebuild.
2023-24 was always going to be an inconsistent season while the Blackhawks started to fit younger players into the lineup and grow around Bedard. Chicago will finish 31st in the NHL this season, lower than hoped because of a wave of injuries.
The last two times a player tabbed as a generational talent was drafted (Connor McDavid, Oilers 2015 and Sidney Crosby, Penguins 2005), their teams missed the playoffs in their first season as well. Chicago has taken some steps forward this year and its home finale on April 14 featured a slew of players who will be big parts of the team's future.
Even in a 4-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Blackhawks iced eight players 24 years of age or younger. This included Bedard, Philip Kurashev, Lukas Reichel, Nazar (2nd ranked prospect), Landon Slaggert, Kevin Korchinski, Alex Vlasic, and Del Mastro (9th ranked prospect). This group should be a huge part of what the Blackhawks are trying to build.
Beyond that, several players 25 years old or younger have played in at least a few games this season for the Blackhawks. This group includes forwards such as reliable regular Joey Anderson, the team's top plus/minus player (plus-6), as well as MacKenzie Entwistle, Reese Johnson and Cole Guttman. Defensemen in this group are Wyatt Kaiser (3rd ranked prospect), Isaak Phillips, Louis Crevier and Filip Roos. Goalie Arvid Söderblom still has upside despite struggling at times this season.
A few of these players, especially Kaiser, should turn into productive everyday players, but some also will not make the cut.
And more is coming to Chicago in the near future.
Some top prospects on their way, as ranked by THN's 2024 Future Watch scouts, include Oliver Moore (No. 1), Sam Rinzel (fourth), Adam Gajan (fifth), Colton Dach (sixth), Ilya Safonov (seventh), Nolan Allan (eighth), and Drew Commesso (10th).
The Blackhawks have a great mix of young talent on their way from every position as Moore, Dach, and Safonov are forwards, Rinzel and Allan are defensemen, while Gajan and Commesso are goaltenders. These players will start trickling in, possibly as soon as next season. At the very least, some of these top prospects will be big contributors for the team within a few years.
Additionally, Chicago has 21 draft picks in the first four rounds over the next three years — five first-round picks, eight second-round picks, four third-round picks, and four fourth-round picks.
During this teardown and early stages of this rebuild, there were times when general manager Kyle Davidson might have been questioned because he moved Hagel, Kirby Dach and Alex DeBrincat.
But now it looks like the team and organization's talent is starting to line up.
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