Blackhawks: Why Not Overload Draft Picks in 2023?

It's a tough time at the moment to be a Blackhawks' fan with everything that's going on at the moment. We've just traded away one of, if not the greatest player to wear a Blackhawks' jersey, in Patrick Kane. He will be greatly missed as he competes now with his new Ranger team.

Our captain, Jonathan Toews is facing a very uncertain future. Will he re-sign with the Blackhawks or find a new home in the off-season? Toews could even hang up his skates given the issues with his health that he's been battling with for some time now.

The reason for the tough times is due to the “ rebuild” that GM Kyle Davidson is currently implementing and looking at the days leading to the trade deadline, it's all steam ahead. We have been trading players for draft picks and this has to happen in a rebuild.

There is no denying this is what the Blackhawks need as the past years have depleted our prospect pool and also our picks. I've seen many fans ask why have our acquired draft picks been for drafts that are two or three years away, why not overload the 2023 draft?

Now I know you're not going to like this answer but it's because a rebuild takes time. The worse part of a rebuild is the time it takes to get good again. You have to space out your picks so you get a good continuous prospect pool. Having all your picks in one year really limits the chances of drafting well and also having picks are good value assets. If the GM likes a player then these picks are very valuable as you can use them to trade for a player and not just draft players.

We are in a strong position with regard to the rebuild and draft picks. We now have 19 picks in the first 3 rounds in the next three drafts. Now it's up to the scouts and GM to pick well and translate all these picks into solid young players that hopefully one day will be the core of the Chicago Blackhawks.