Chicago Blackhawks sign another 2024 first-round pick to entry-level deal

The Chicago Blackhawks have signed another first-round pick from this year's draft.

Marek Vanacker signed his entry-level contract by agreeing to a three-year deal. Vanacker was a surprise draft choice as the Hawks traded back into the first round to take him at No. 27.

Vanacker was discovered after being teammates with Hawks prospect Nick Lardis on the Brantford Bulldogs of the OHL.

He will go back there since he is not eligible to play for the Blackhawks' AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. Vanacker is 18, and per the OHL and AHL agreement, he is not eligible to play. He is also out until December as Vanacker recovers from shoulder surgery.

General manager Kyle Davidson got to see Marek a lot when was at Brantford to watch Lardis.

Despite the injury wiping out his training camp to see if he can earn a nine-game free look at the NHL, it is still good to get him officially signed with the team. The Hawks took defenseman Artyom Levshunov with the No. 2 overall pick. Levshunov has already signed his entry-level deal instead of going back to Michigan State.

Vanacker scored 36 goals and had 46 assists for the Bulldogs. It was needed after Lardis was hurt.

Vanacker is listed at six-foot, one-inch tall. Decent size compared to the smaller prospects the Blackhawks have at forward.

Vanacker projects to be a solid NHL skater, but his game might not be worthy of being on the top-line. The Hawks system is filled with plenty of forwards whose ceiling is being good enough to make it to the second line and the floor of being at least capable of having a NHL career.

Vanacker's prospect rankings varied before the draft. He was ranked 25th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. Sportsnet also rated him among the top 30. TSN's Bob McKenzie rated him 47th.

His cap hit will be $975k through 2026-27. Sacha Boisvert was the Blackhawks other first-round choice. He is going to attend the University of North Dakota next season.