The Blackhawks' draft theme of adding size continues with fourth-round picks

The Chicago Blackhawks continue to stock up on bigger forwards. Although one of them is on the older side, and the other one barely played in the OHL.

The Hawks selected Julius Sumpf and Parker Holmes with their two fourth-round choices. Sumpf went 98th overall while Holmes was taken with 107th pick in the NHL Draft.

Sumpf is an older prospect.

The German is already 20. He played for Moncton of the QMJHL, where he scored 26 goals and racked up 39 assists.

He also skated for Germany at the World Juniors this year, where he had seven points. Despite his older prospect status, he brings more size to the Hawks' forward prospect pool.

He stands 6-foot-2 and just a few pounds under 200.

Elite Prospects sums up his game like this....

Julius Sumpf controls the game at a high level. Understanding spacing principles and manipulation, he constantly attacks gaps in the opposition coverage and times those drives with teammates’ plays. He then catches passes in movement and shifts it to space, using give-and-goes, hand-outs, and changes of lanes off the rush to force the opposition to adjust and break their formation. He reads defenders’ feet, makes plays counter to them, veils his intention, and consistently connects with teammates.

Holmes is another player the Hawks have drafted who skates for the Brantford Bulldogs.

The Hawks front office has to be familiar with Holmes, considering the team has been checking in with record-setting scorer Nick Lardis, who the Hawks took in the third round of the 2023 draft.

Lardis led all Hawks prospects not skating for Rockford with 117 points for the Bulldogs of the OHL. Holmes did not produce nearly enough offense with just one goal in 21 games. However, he was hurt most of the season.

He fits with what the Hawks are trying to accomplish in this draft, and that is getting bigger at forward, because the young prospect is massive at 6-foot-4.

While it would have been nice to see the Hawks start to add some blue line depth, continuing to stock bigger forwards is something this organization needed.