The ideal prospect we would like to see fall to the Blackhawks at No. 18 in the NHL Draft

The Chicago Blackhawks will most likely have it down to Ivan Demidov or Artyom Levshunov for the second overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, so the only real prospect we would hope to see fall to them at No. 2 is Macklin Celebrini, something that would raise eyebrows across the entire pro sports universe. But since Celebrini will be wearing a teal sweater on draft day and the Blackhawks are picking second, let’s instead focus on a player we would like to see available at No. 18. 

Now, the keyword phrase is ‘would like,’ because the likelihood of this particular prospect falling to them is between slim and none. But we can all agree that on Friday, June 28th, we’ll be watching at least one prospect tumble down the draft boards as there is always that one freefaller. 

Not a single draft prospect out there wants to be that player, but organizations looking to add a plethora of prospects to their ranks, like the Blackhawks, wouldn’t mind it. And neither the organization nor their fans would mind seeing projected top-10 pick Zayne Parekh fall to them at No. 18. 

Everyone in the Blackhawks organization would be glad to have Zayne Parekh

Zayne Parekh should end up going 10th overall at the latest, but if he freefalls to No. 18, he will make general manager Kyle Davidson’s decision rather easy. Parekh’s ability to find open forwards was more than on display this season when he finished the year with 72 assists (counting playoffs), but he also scored 35 goals in 79 combined regular and postseason games. 

Yeah, just picture a situation where Parekh is playing on the back end in the Windy City with the likes of Connor Bedard and Philipp Kurashev in front of him at forward, and maybe Lukas Reichel if he pans out. That would be a sight to behold a couple of seasons down the road if Parekh falls, but that’s not the only reason I chose him for this exercise. 

His defensive game also has the potential to be elite, and if Parekh can just stop trying to do too much when his team doesn’t have the puck and clean up his game defensively, he will become a surefire three-zone player at the next level. It’s hard to say he’s there right now, but with a complete offensive game and room for his defensive game to match, Blackhawks fans should celebrate if he somehow falls to 18th overall. 

(Statistics powered by Elite Prospects)