Things couldn’t be going much worse for the Blackhawks in the NHL right now, as Chicago sits comfortably in last place in the entire league. But on the bright side, even the front office couldn’t care less. That’s because the Blackhawks’ strength clearly lies in the players who are still on their way – the current roster is full of placeholders who won’t be around a few years from now. As a result, the eyes of many Chicago fans are on the players who are still coming, and how they stack up against the rest of the league’s prospect pools.
With so much focus on the Blackhawks’ pipeline, it becomes more noticeable when NHL media doesn’t give the group the credit it deserves. On Tuesday, Corey Pronman of the Athletic dropped a mid-season update to his top NHL players and prospects under 23, and his ranking of the Blackhawks is… interesting.
- Connor Bedard
- Artyom Levshunov
- Kevin Korchinski
- Sam Rinzel
- Roman Kantserov
- Sacha Boisvert
- Oliver Moore
- Lukas Reichel
- Colton Dach
One’s eyes immediately go to the ranking of Connor Bedard, who finds himself below both Macklin Celebrini and Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle. Stutzle is certainly deserving of his No. 2 spot, having scored 90 points in 2022-23 and 70 last season. But Bedard is more than three years younger, and has put up just four fewer points this season after dropping 61 in 68 games a year ago.
The first thing I noticed, however, was a confusing lack of an appearance from Frank Nazar. Sure, he hasn’t produced much offense in the NHL this year, scoring three points in 15 games. But he’s certainly proven that he belongs in the league, and was enjoying a terrific AHL campaign before being called up (24 points in 21 games, Rockford’s All-Star). What’s the rationale there? Even if it’s because he hasn’t done much in the NHL, Lukas Reichel somehow made the list. Strange omission there.
Speaking of strange omissions, where is Nick Lardis? The Blackhawks’ 19-year-old has scored 62 points in 39 games in the OHL, and his 34 goals are good for second in the league. It isn’t as if his game is worse than what he shows on the stat sheet – he’s one of the purest scorers in Chicago’s prospect pool.
There’s a lot to be excited about with several of these prospects and their spots. I would have Sam Rinzel a bit higher – he might be the favorite for the NCAA’s Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college hockey. It’s nice to see Boisvert and Moore on there as well, although Moore is one of the more unique players in the game and is scoring nearly a point per game at Minnesota (and is a two-time gold medalist already).
The Blackhawks weren’t completely snubbed. Levshunov at No. 22 was a bit of a surprise, as that puts him one spot ahead of Brock Faber. He’s struggled at times this season, but he’s also just 19 years old and only stayed in the NCAA for one year. Pronman is clearly still high on him, and Levshunov is probably the second-most valuable player in Chicago’s rebuild.
