Blackhawks: Evan Barratt, Andrei Altybarmakyan sign entry-level deal

Today, two Chicago Blackhawks prospects from the 2017 NHL draft signed their entry-level deals.

The future of the Chicago Blackhawks is now. Young prospects Evan Barratt and Andrei Altybarmakyan were signed today to entry-level contracts, where they can go up and down between the Blackhawks and the IceHogs for their first 160 games.

With the future being now, I am also adding forwards Dylan Strome, Alex DeBrincat, Dominik Kubalik, and Kirby Dach into the mix. Defensively, they look solid for the future too with Adam Boqvist and Ian Mitchell (expected to play sometime next season).

If the season were to start back up today, Barratt and Altybarmakyan would be allowed to play for the team. I’m surprised that Barratt has decided to leave Penn State, considering he might not play for the Blackhawks anytime soon. Though he is a prospect, he isn’t the “top prospect”.

Barratt could be another one of those later rounds steals the Blackhawks have come up with during the past few seasons. In 98 NCAA games, Barratt has 39 goals and 56 assists for 95 points. He is just under a point per game, which isn’t terrible.

Comparing him to Jonathan Toews, who also played college hockey, Toews had 85 points in 76 games. That’s over a point per game, but Barratt leaves college with 10 more points than Toews.

The Russian left-wing Altybarmakyan was also selected in the 2017 NHL draft by Chicago. I’m not expecting much out of him considering he didn’t blow up in the KHL or VHL. In 101 KHL games, he had eight goals and 15 assists for just 23 points.

Altybarmakyan’s VHL stats didn’t help him much, scoring 16 goals and racking up 18 assists for 34 points in 73 games.

I’m excited for Barratt, I hope he isn’t all hype. I’m sleeping on Altybarmakyan, for the time being. If Altybarmakyan comes up and is a star, I’ll be the first to admit that I was wrong for not seeing the talent in him.