The Blackhawks Prospect System is one of the Best in the NHL according to Scott Wheeler

The Athletic's Scott Wheeler, a highly respected national reporter on the NHL Draft and prospects, is counting down his prospect pool rankings at the moment. With one released per day (until #1 is revealed on the 29th of this month) the Chicago Blackhawks have checkied in with Wheeler at #7.

Thus far only franchises like Anaheim and Philadelphia (#5 and #6 respectively) are ahead of Chicago based on his evaluations of the players not currently "graduated", but in the system for each team. It's the graduation aspect that has the Hawks all the way back at #7 though as players such as Connor Bedard, Kevin Korchinski, and Alex Vlasic are now NHL regulars in major roles for head coach Luke Richardson

One interesting note on his list of prospects though is that Lukas Reichel is now back to being in said prospect pool. Wheeler notes, "they (Chicago) moved from a planned ranking of No. 8 up to No. 7 here" in reference to Reichel being re-added as a prospect.

You can read the full article via Scott Wheeler's (@scottcwheeler on "X") account or by visiting www.theathletic.com for his work.

Of note here is that while this ranking may seem low to most Blackhawks' fans, keep in mind that this ranking will likely skyrocket soon. The Blackhawks hold 14 picks within the top 2 rounds in the next 3 drafts. While 1 or 2 of these selections may be straight to the NHL players (we all hope so at least), many of them will make up the next wave of Chicago's prospect pool.

From Blackhawk Up's perspective, #7 seems about right...... for now.