The Chicago Blackhawks have a lot of intrigue surrounding their 4th overall pick. However, that is not the only selection that they will make at the 2026 NHL Draft. It is important to find gems in the middle and late rounds as well if you want to keep the pipeline strong, as they move into the next phase of the rebuild. Players from all over the world are going to be selected over the course of seven rounds. Within the first four, the Blackhawks may not need to look far beyond their own backyard to find some good ones. The Chicago Steel, who will be neighbors with the Blackhawks very soon, have a couple of prospects that are worth considering. Jayden Kurtz Jayden Kurtz is a tall and slim defenseman standing at 6'3" and 194 pounds. He finished his high school season in 2025-26 before joining the Chicago Steel for a handful of games. In 16 USHL matches with Chicago, he had 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points from the blue line. He is someone who will go in the middle to late rounds of the 2026 NHL Draft following this small sample size of solid play in lesser leagues. Now, he will move to the NCAA with Wisconsin, which is likely to have a National Championship caliber squad. If he has a great year with the Badgers, which he very well could, his stock will only continue to rise. His lack of experience following high school hockey is the reason he is projected to be drafted where he is, which is good for whatever team selects him, as long as he continues to develop once he is drafted. Cole Tuminaro Cole Tuminaro would fit the recent draft profile for the Chicago Blackhawks. He is a big defenseman standing at 6'4" and 225 pounds. He is going to be available late in the draft, which is exactly where you consider a big defensive defenseman like him. In 54 games played with the Chicago Steel in 2025-26, he scored five goals and 11 assists for 16 points. He also had 148 penalty minutes, which speaks to his size and toughness in-game. Next season, Tuminaro is going to play at Cornell, which regularly competes within the ECAC. If the Blackhawks draft him in the 5th round or later, they could be looking at it in a year from now and wonder how they got so fortunate because he's been dominating the college hockey level. Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/3867facb-9c74-4527-a17c-4476ce88757c.jpeg] Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/] team site to stay up to date on the latest news [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-newshttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news], game-day [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/game-dayhttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/game-day] coverage, player features [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/playershttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/players], and more. For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting on the article below on THN.com or by creating your own post in our community forum.
