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How landing one of the top four picks in the NHL Draft Lottery will impact the Chicago Blackhawks' rebuild

By Todd Welter |
/ Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
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The Chicago Blackhawks will officially know where they are selecting in the NHL Draft's top five tomorrow.

The NHL Draft Lottery is set to take place on Tuesday and the Blackhawks have the second-best odds to land the No. 1 overall pick.

The Hawks had the third-best odds last year and were able to jump to the front to land the top pick. That gave the Blackhawks the right to draft Connor Bedard. It has altered the franchise forever

This year's winner of the top pick will not be getting a phenom like Bedard. Whichever team will does win the right to the top pick will have the opportunity to draft a goal-scoring machine in Macklin Celebrini.

Celebrini is the consensus top prospect in this year's draft. If the Blackhawks manage to win the NHL Draft Lottery for the second consecutive year, adding Macklin will dramatically alter the Blackhawks rebuild.

Celebrini scored 32 goals during his freshman season at Boston University. He also won the Hobey Baker Award. Macklin could provide scoring on the second line as a center or imagine him and Connor Bedard skating together on the first line (Bedard did spend time on the wing this year). That would be a lot of goals for an offense that was starved for them this season.

The Hawks may have good chances to win the NHL Draft Lottery again, it is still really hard to win the top pick for two years in a row. If the ping pong balls do not bounce in the Hawks' favor, the Blackhawks will pick no lower than fourth in this year's draft with their first-round pick.

The Hawks also have the rights to the Tampa Bay Lightning's first pick which comes in at No. 20. Either way, the Hawks have a chance to add more talented prospects to a really good prospect pool. Hopefully, adding more talented young players will help the Blackhawks contend for the Stanley Cup by the end of the decade.

Getting Macklin would certainly turn around the Hawks' fortunes sooner rather than later. How would having one of the other top four picks help the Blackhawks rebuild the team?

The second pick means the Blackhawks have to be 100% certain about the player they are taking.

TSN's Bob McKenzie, Tankathon, and the Athletic's Scott Wheeler (subscription is required to access link) all think forward Ivan Demidov is the second-best prospect in the draft. The Athletic's Corey Pronman thinks Demidov is the eight-best player (a subscription is needed to access the link). What that means is there is no real sure-fire second-best prospect like last year's draft.

However, that does not mean that even if there was a consensus second-best player in the draft the team with the second pick is going to take him.

Last year everyone thought Adam Fantilli would go at two and the Anaheim Ducks went with Leo Carlsson. Carlsson was considered the third or fourth-best prospect so it was not crazy to go with him.

Having the second pick means the Hawks must rely on their conviction in a player much like the Ducks did when they make the choice. Whether it is a right is all about how the team develops a prospect.

If the Blackhawks decide to go with Demidov, they will have to wait at least until the 2025-26 season for him to come over as his KHL contract does not expire until after next season. It means the rebuild will not get immediate help.

However, if the Blackhawks went with a defenseman, they might not want immediate help anyway. The Hawks have shown they will not rush any of their blue liner's development. Artyom Levshunov is considered one of the better defensive prospects. He just completed his first season at Michigan State. It would not be crazy to see the Blackhawks have no problem if he played another season for the Spartans.

The third or fourth pick will give the Blackhawks a chance to add a good prospect, especially to the blue line.

The Blackhawks will need just as much conviction on whoever they take at third or fourth. This is a draft that is not like last year when there was agreement on the top five prospects.

Scott Wheeler has Levshunov and defenseman Zeev Buium as his third and fourth-best prospects. Tankathon agrees with Wheeler on Levshunov, but they think forward Cayden Lindstrom is the fourth rated prospect.

McKenzie has Russian defenseman Anton Silayev as his third-best prospect and then Levshunov as the fourth. Pronman has Carter Yakemchuk as his third top prospect and then Buium at No. 4.

Last year's draft was heavy on forwards at the top of the draft. This year's draft is more balanced. Depending on who go with, defensemen seem to be at the top of a lot of draft prospect rankings.

The Blackhawks could use more help on the blue line in their system. The Hawks could sign a couple of veteran defensemen to be a bridge while prospects like Ethan Del Mastro get more time in Rockford and Sam Rinzel works on his game in college. Taking another defenseman would fit with bringing in cheap reinforcements a few years down the road once Kevin Korchinski signs his next contract.

Seth Jones and Alex Vlasic are already locked up long-term so adding more youth will help the salary cap balance.

Cayden Lindstrom is a massive, skilled forward that the Blackhawks could use in their system. The Hawks love faster skaters with skill and that has meant the Hawks have taken smaller forwards. Lindstrom can skate and his huge.

The No. 1 overall pick will speed up the rebuild while the other three picks will keep it at the pace it is already on.

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