Blackhawks draft strategy might change this year

We are a month away from the NHL Entry Draft. That means we have four more weeks to go over all the scenarios the Chicago Blackhawks have with the fourth-overall pick. Do they trade up? Do they trade down? Do they select a forward? Do they select a defenseman?

Let’s give ourselves a welcome reprieve from that speculation on the first round, and focus on the second round, where we might see general manager Kyle Davidson try a different approach.

Second-Round Stockpile May Not Be Used How You Think

The Blackhawks have three second-round picks in this year's draft. They have their own at 34. They have the Toronto Maple Leafs’ pick at 37 from the 2023 trade for Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty. They also have the New York Islanders' pick at 45 from the 2023 trade for Josh Bailey’s contract, which was quickly bought out.

Based on the last two drafts, the easy assumption is that Davidson will package those picks to move back into the first round if there is a player he likes. In 2024, he traded two second-round picks to the Carolina Hurricanes to select Marek Vanacker with the 27th overall pick. Last year, Davidson traded two second-round picks and a fifth-rounder to the Hurricanes to get back into the first round and select Mason West 29th overall.

However, in his recent mailbag for The Athletic, Scott Powers said that Davidson might not be so aggressive this year. But that all depends on what happens in the first round. He says that if the Blackhawks select a forward at No. 4, they will make all three of those picks unless there is a player they really want late in the first round. This is a deep draft for defensemen, so Davidson could use multiple second-round picks to restock the defensive cupboard.

The Blackhawks prospect pool has been deep on the blue line for quite some time, but that is no longer the case. Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, Wyatt Kaiser, and Louis Crevier are all in the NHL. Kevin Korchinski and Ethan Del Mastro could be joining them this season. All their defensive prospects have graduated to the top level, and there isn’t much behind them.

Some of the players the Blackhawks could target in the second round include Xavier Villeneuve (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, QMJHL), Nikita Shcherbakov (Toros Neftekamsk, VHL), Jakub Vaněček (Tri-City Americans, WHL), William Håkansson (Lulea, SHL), and Maksim Sokolovskii (London Knights, OHL).

Powers is the most connected of all of our local beat writers, so I trust his insight. However, this draft is so unpredictable that just when you think you have it figured out, it can all change in the blink of an eye.

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