Chicago may have the best odds heading into the draft lottery — and a chance at the No. 1 overall pick for a second straight year in 2024. Foligno, the Blackhawks' de facto captain, would prefer to see his depleted team start to build winning habits down the stretch.
The Chicago Blackhawks have been stumbling along with the San Jose Sharks for the worst record in the NHL. Heading into Thursday, both teams had 35 points and Chicago had played two more games.
So the Blackhawks' odds of winning the NHL Draft Lottery are as good as any club's. That winner will have the right to select top-rated prospect Macklin Celebrini, a Boston University forward who has surged in the second half of his freshman season. Still just 17 years old, he ranks third in NCAA scoring with 26 goals and 22 assists in 30 games.
But Nick Foligno, the Blackhawks' 36-year-old de facto captain, is more concerned about his team building winning habits down the stretch than fretting about getting another No. 1 pick to bookend NHL leading rookie scorer Connor Bedard.
"If you're really playing to be a good team, a team that's going to move up in the standings, then you're not worried about trying to get a first-overall pick," Foligno said. "It's not shameful in a way, but it's not the way you should handle a professional season."
Foligno believes that with a winning team culture, it won't matter if the Blackhawks draft first, second, third or slightly higher in 2024. They'll eventually get the most out of what should still be a top prospect.
That could be Celebrini, the clear-cut No. 1. Behind him, the fluctuating list includes NCAA defensemen Artyom Levshunov and Zeev Buium, Canadian junior stars Sam Dickinson, Carter Yakemchuk or Berkly Catton, or Russians Ivan Demidov or Anton Silayev.
"I think you should be looking to improve your team regardless of what may be easier," Foligno continued. "What's the right way? Is it bringing in a high pick into a culture that's sustaining winning, and making him understanding winning and how hard it is to win in this league, and have that (dressing) room that dictates that and every night you're competitive?
"Or is it having the first-overall pick and trying to find your way? You've seen teams do that. They tend to toil and they don't find that culture, that understanding of winning." See the following video.
Chicago Will Be In The Running
Even with an amazing run in March and April, Chicago won't play itself out of a decent chance of netting the No. 1 pick and Celebrini in the 2024 draft. The Blackhawks entered Thursday's game against Colorado at 15-39-5 and with 18.5 percent odds of winning the draft lottery.
Like Bedard, whom the Blackhawks drafted No. 1 overall in 2023, Celebrini is from the Vancouver area. The 6-foot-0, 190-pound forward played junior hockey last season for the Chicago Steel of the USHL en route to BU.
Foligno's Foundational
Foligno signed a two-year contact extension in January to help push the Blackhawks back toward respectability. The son of former NHLer Mike Foligno and older brother of Minnesota Wild forward Marcus, Nick Foligno has grinded his way through a resurgent 17th NHL season.
The former Columbus captain has played in all situations at a high level, averaging 17:49 of ice time per game, sometimes even jokingly complaining about the workload for someone his age. Foligno played only about 12 1/2 minutes per contest as a depth forward on Boston the previous two seasons.
Foligno's 14 goals are his best since 2017-18 with the Blue Jackets, and he entered Thursday with five goals and nine points in his last nine games. He's been on the power-play and even-strength units with Bedard, killed penalties and been a shutdown forward late in games on those rare occasions when Chicago has a lead.
Dynamite Hockey Dad
The father of three children — including two sons in minor hockey — Foligno has been trying to build a brotherhood vibe among Blackhawks players. He's also been a "dad" to some of the younger ones, while going to battle with his fists a couple of times.
Foligno even broke his left ring finger fighting New Jersey's Brendan Smith after the Devils defenseman broke Bedard's jaw with an open ice hit on Jan. 5. See story in link.