3 needs the Chicago Blackhawks must address in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft

As the 2023-24 NHL regular season nears its conclusion, teams are beginning to look ahead. When the season ends on Friday, April 14th, the top sixteen teams will be chasing the Stanley Cup while the remaining sixteen clubs look toward the offseason, particularly the NHL Draft.

The Chicago Blackhawks are a team that has been thinking about the draft all season long as they continue with their rebuild. Despite drafting Connor Bedard with the first-overall selection in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, the Blackhawks rebuild is not yet nearing the finishing stages.

With a 22-48-5 record and 49 points, Chicago sits 31st in the NHL standings, only sitting above the San Jose Sharks who have 42 points. If there is no change to the bottom three in the standings, the Blackhawks will end the season having a 13.5% chance at winning the draft lottery, the second-best odds.

Last season, the Blackhawks ended the year with the third-best odds at winning the lottery and won, but there is no guarantee that lightning will strike twice. However, if the Blackhawks do not end up winning the lottery, they will still be drafting a great player with tons of potential. Aside from their first-round pick, the Blackhawks also have the Tampa Bay Lightning's first-rounder which they acquired in the Brandon Hagel trade at the 2022 Trade Deadline.

With seven more draft picks beyond the first round, three of which are in the second round, there will be plenty of opportunities for the Blackhawks to make their prospect pool even deeper.

The Blackhawks pipeline has been coming along very nicely since General Manager Kyle Davidson took over in 2022, but there are still some areas where the team could look to improve as this year's NHL Draft approaches.

Potential Game-Breaking Forwards

This category may sound a little obvious, but it is worth discussing since the Blackhawks will be in a position to draft a high-caliber player. Last season saw the team draft a true game-breaker in Connor Bedard, who was labeled the best prospect since Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid.

Bedard became the face of the Blackhawks before he even stepped on the ice for the team and is the probable front-runner to win the NHL's Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year.

Aside from Bedard, the Blackhawks have some highly skilled forwards in their system who look as though they'll become top-six talents at the NHL level. Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore headline that group as the top forward prospects in the system. However, the Blackhawks will have the chance to draft a potential elite talent with their second consecutive top-five pick to be another franchise pillar alongside Connor Bedard.

With the assumption of the Blackhawks not picking first overall, a player like Ivan Demidov stands out as a lethal player with possible sky-high potential. Creator of Hockey Prospecting Byron Bader's draft model has Demidov's projection as very comparable to that of previous elite NHL talents. Other forwards who could be on the Blackhawks' radar include Berkly Catton (WHL), Cayden Lindstrom (WHL), and Cole Eiserman (US NTDP).

Drafting a potential game-breaker can give the Blackhawks a one-two-punch alongside Connor Bedard for the foreseeable future, which will likely give Hawks fans flashbacks of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.

Right-Shot Defensemen

The Blackhawks' prospect pool right now has no shortage of defensemen who look to be possible options at the NHL level. However, the majority of those defensemen are left-handed, with the only true right-handed shots being 2022 first-round pick Sam Rinzel and 2020 seventh-round pick Louis Crevier.

Prospects such as Ethan Del Mastro have proven to be able to play the right side despite being left-handed, but there is still a need for a true right-shot defender.

With defensemen such as Kevin Korchinski and Alex Vlasic playing in the NHL this season, the future defense core is beginning to take shape, though it is still in the early stages. This upcoming draft will have a plethora of blue-liners with NHL potential that the Blackhawks could add as a potential mainstay in their future top two pairs.

Artyom Levshunov will most likely be the first defenseman taken off the board at the draft this June and for a very good reason. The six-foot, two-inch defender has been fantastic for Michigan State (NCAA) as a freshman and continues to improve his defensive game as he becomes a two-way threat on the ice. Other options for this draft include Carter Yakemchuk (WHL), Zayne Parekh (OHL), and Adam Jiricek (Czechia).