The Chicago Blackhawks better not win the No. 1 pick as the NHL Draft Lottery date is set

The Chicago Blackhawks will find out next Monday where they will be picking in the first round of the NHL Draft.

The NHL Draft Lottery has been officially set for May 5. The Blackhawks have the second-best odds of coming away with the No. 1 overall pick.

However, the Blackhawks should hope they come away with the second or third overall pick.

It is not because if the Blackhawks win the lottery, they will be ineligible to move up in the draft in 2026 and 2027.

The hope is the Blackhawks are doing better in the standings by 2027 that they will not be in the lottery anymore.

The main reason the Blackhawks better hope they lose the lottery is because the top prospect is a defenseman. The Hawks have plenty of elite blueline prospects in the pipeline already contributing at the NHL level.

While Matthew Schaefer is an elite prospect, the Blackhawks have Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, Kevin Korchinski, Alex Vlasic, and Ethan Del Mastro already in the fold. Wyatt Kaiser and Nolan Allan also have some promise, too.

While it would not be terrible for the Blackhawks to add another prospect with the talent to be a No. 1 blueliner, the Hawks have Levshunov, Rinzel, and Vlasic, who also have that ability and are still very young.

The Blackhawks need an elite forward like Michael Misa or James Hagens more. Even Porter Martone would bring some much-needed size along with his skill, even if he is not the fastest skater.

Now the Blackhawks could just take a forward over Schaefer, but let another franchise remove any possibility of having to make that tough call.

What this season showed was that the Blackhawks must surround Connor Bedard with more elite talent.

The Blackhawks do have a promising group of forwards in the prospect system. Frank Nazar has the makings of a superstar. Oliver Moore has the speed to possibly skate with Bedard.

However, guys like Ryan Greene, Landon Slaggert, and Colton Dach might be destined to be third-line players. There is nothing wrong with that, but the Blackhawks are in a position to add a player with the potential to be a consistent top-line forward.

That is why it feels like this year's draft is a do-over from last year, when the team took
Levshunov over Ivan Demidov. There is nothing wrong with taking a defenseman who can be another Duncan Keith. The belief was that the Blackhawks would be better this season with no chance of drafting in the top two anymore.

It felt like the Hawks would never be in this position again to add a franchise-altering forward.

Another disappointing season means the Hawks will pick no lower than fourth, and they get another shot to add an elite prospect.

If the Blackhawks do make the necessary roster upgrades this offseason, then hopefully, this team is not drafting that high for a long time.

That means making the most of this opportunity to provide help to Bedard rather than continuing to have an embarrassment of riches on the blue line.