Hawks Prospect Pool Depth

[Larmer83]

Forwards:
Frank Nazar (2004)
Oliver Moore (2005)
Sascha Boisvert (2006)
Colton Dach (2003)
Marek Vanacker (2006)
Ryan Greene (2003)
Roman Kantserov (2004)
Landon Slaggert (2002)
Nick Lardis (2005)
Gavin Hayes (2004)
Paul Ludwinski (2004)
Martin Misiak (2004)
Aidan Thompson (2002)
John Mustard (2006)
AJ Spellacy (2006)
Samuel Savoie (2004)
Jack Pridham (2005)
Jiri Felcmann (2005)
Ryder Rolston (2001)
Marcel Marcel (2003)
Jaylen Luypen (2002)
Ilya Safonov (2002)
Alex Pharand (2005)
Joel Svensson (2005)
Victor Stjernborg (2003)
Milton Oscarsson (2003)
Riku Tohila (2003)
Dominic James (2002)
Antti Saarella (2001)
Nils Juntorp (2003)
Liam Gorman (2000)* (rights expire August 15, 2024)

Defensemen:
Artyom Levshunov (2005)
Ethan Del Mastro (2003)
Sam Rinzel (2004)
Nolan Allan (2003)
Louis Crevier (2001)
Taige Harding (2002)
Ty Henry (2006)
Janne Peltonen (2005)
Connor Kelley (2002)* (rights expire August 15, 2024)

Goaltenders:
Drew Commesso (2002)
Adam Gajan (2004)
Dominic Basse (2001)* (rights expire August 15, 2024)

2023-24 Prospect Graduates: F Connor Bedard (2005), F Lukas Reichel (2002), F Cole Guttman (1999), D Alex Vlasic (2001), D Kevin Korchinski (2004), D Wyatt Kaiser (2002), D Isaak Phillips (2001), G Arvid Soderblom (1999)

That seems about right. I might have minor adjustments to Greene since Dach has trouble staying healthy and Rinzel due to being right-handed and a skating upgrade over EDM.

 

[WarriorofTime]

That seems about right. I might have minor adjustments to Greene since Dach has trouble staying healthy and Rinzel due to being right-handed and a skating upgrade over EDM.

yeah, the actual order can of course be debated (hence the offseason poll), but just giving a rough table setting of what's out there, particularly in terms of "depth"

 

[Larmer83]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1808537150469652719

 

[TLEH]

Well, a bit alarming but nothing we can do but wait and see. Unlike others, he definitely would have been in the AHL so the choice makes more sense.

 

[Castle8130]

Worst thing the Hawks can do is trade Ethan Del Mastro because of the log-jam. I think he has top pair upside and is a better prospect than Kevin Korchinski. I know I'm in the minority having this opinion. I also like Nolan Allan as a #4 guy down the road. Hopefully he has a good season in Rockford this year

 

[TheFridge]

Never concerned until they go back for their senior season. With Celebrini and Hutson gone, Greene should be the guy in BU this fall. Will be interesting to see how he plays.

 

[WarriorofTime]

I think Greene will sign in April once his college season ends. He has no reason to play the free agency game, he'd have to wait until August 15, 2025 when he should have a good chance to get games in before then and he'll likely have a better opportunity with the Hawks than somewhere else. My guess is he'd just rather do another year of college, be the big man on campus ("unfinished business" with getting knocked out in the Frozen Four Semis the last two seasons), another year closer to his degree than ride the bus in the AHL (as he'd be unlikely to make the NHL roster).

 

[hockeydoug]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1808537150469652719

There will be more of these.

Hopefully he just really wants to play at school and nothing else, but I think we should expect several to consider FA after college.

Who knows the motives but all the high picks coming up creates alot of challenges for kids to get NHL?

KD took 24 forwards in 3 drafts, and he still has Reichel, Slaggert, and Dach (I don't think Luypen matters). Any depth type, or project type forward probably has to seriously consider holding out for FA after college if the ultimate goal is playing on the big stage.

That's just part of the risk of a pick focused rebuild...but it looks like KD has figured out it wasn't the best way to go moving forward.

 

[x Tame Impala]

There will be more of these.

Hopefully he just really wants to play at school and nothing else, but I think we should expect several to consider FA after college.

Who knows the motives but all the high picks coming up creates alot of challenges for kids to get NHL?

KD took 24 forwards in 3 drafts, and he still has Reichel, Slaggert, and Dach (I don't think Luypen matters). Any depth type, or project type forward probably has to seriously consider holding out for FA after college if the ultimate goal is playing on the big stage.

That's just part of the risk of a pick focused rebuild...but it looks like KD has figured out it wasn't the best way to go moving forward.

So many prospects don't pan out. I don't mind having a glut of them fighting over a few spots because the competition will be great and they can be flipped for other assets if need be as well.

You don't want guys like Levshunov getting buried, guys like Dach and Slaggert...it's a deep system and they have to be undeniable to get a spot.

 

[Castle8130]

I think Greene will sign in April once his college season ends. He has no reason to play the free agency game, he'd have to wait until August 15, 2025 when he should have a good chance to get games in before then and he'll likely have a better opportunity with the Hawks than somewhere else. My guess is he'd just rather do another year of college, be the big man on campus ("unfinished business" with getting knocked out in the Frozen Four Semis the last two seasons), another year closer to his degree than ride the bus in the AHL (as he'd be unlikely to make the NHL roster).

I worry Greene's agent is telling him to go back another year and possibly request a trade. The Hawks have used much higher draft capital on Nazar, Bedard, Moore, and Boisvert. His agent might be concerned that he falls 5th in line to get a center role in the NHL on a loaded prospect pool.

To be honest, Greene might be a better prospect than both Moore and Boisvert overall. Nazar and Bedard also might not play as Centers in the NHL. With all these things considered, I believe it is in the Hawks best interest to sign him when they can. My biggest concern is the Hawks might feel Greene is the most expendable because they invested so much capital into the 4 names mentioned

 

[hockeydoug]

So many prospects don't pan out. I don't mind having a glut of them fighting over a few spots because the competition will be great and they can be flipped for other assets if need be as well.

You don't want guys like Levshunov getting buried, guys like Dach and Slaggert...it's a deep system and they have to be undeniable to get a spot.

I agree, most won't go anywhere.

The idea of fighting for ice time is great but when you have 4 redundant type prospects fighting for the same shifts with a NHL ELC hanging in front of them, I think it changes the calculus and definitely creates challenges for development.

Top prospects won't be buried, and high picks almost always get several chances or at least a 2nd contract To your point about Lev, Hawks have two first rounders in Lev and Rinzel shooting right. Any agent of a tweener NHL prospect playing d and shooting right will take a look at that immediately before signing a contract.

This is speculation but it happens. I have no reason to believe Greene is or isn't considering his NHL future with Chicago in the decision, only that with so many depth type prospects, some will slip through the cracks and consider holding out.

I worry Greene's agent is telling him to go back another year and possibly request a trade. The Hawks have used much higher draft capital on Nazar, Bedard, Moore, and Boisvert. His agent might be concerned that he falls 5th in line to get a center role in the NHL on a loaded prospect pool.

To be honest, Greene might be a better prospect than both Moore and Boisvert overall. Nazar and Bedard also might not play as Centers in the NHL. With all these things considered, I believe it is in the Hawks best interest to sign him when they can. My biggest concern is the Hawks might feel Greene is the most expendable because they invested so much capital into the 4 names mentioned

I like Greene and I agree that being buried on a bad AHL line may be a deterrent.

Hopefully it's just a matter of him letting the clock run out on several of these forward contracts and then he's ready to jump into Rockford.

 

[MHO]

I think part of the reason why KD was trading picks to move up was this. He was worried that he won't be able to sign some players because they will see a logjam so I like the idea of sacrificing a bunch of 2nds for 1sts. I'd bet Greene still signs but it might be difficult to get later round picks to sign out of college when they don't see any open roster spots available.

Wanted to add this: I see a lot of potential NHL players in the pool but not so many top line/pairing ones and I feel that we're going to need 2-3 of them to emerge if we're going to become cup contenders. Who do you guys think/hope will emerge this year as a potential core piece to a perennial cup contender?

 

[Castle8130]

I think part of the reason why KD was trading picks to move up was this. He was worried that he won't be able to sign some players because they will see a logjam so I like the idea of sacrificing a bunch of 2nds for 1sts. I'd bet Greene still signs but it might be difficult to get later round picks to sign out of college when they don't see any open roster spots available.

Wanted to add this: I see a lot of potential NHL players in the pool but not so many top line/pairing ones and I feel that we're going to need 2-3 of them to emerge if we're going to become cup contenders. Who do you guys think/hope will emerge this year as a potential core piece to a perennial cup contender?

Out of the prospect pool we currently have and all u24 on the roster

On the backend;

- Vlasic has already emerged as a #2/3 guy

- We need Levshunov to emerge as a #1 defenseman for the draft capital used on him (atleast a very good #2)

- We need one of Korchinski/EDM/Allan/Rinzel to become a top pair guy and one possibly becoming a 2nd pair guy


On the front-end;

- Two of Bedard/Moore/Nazar/Boisvert/Greene become two of our top 3C's

- Three of Vanacker/Lardis/Ludwinski/Kantserov/One of the drafted Centers becomes top 9 wings

- Whatever player we draft with our 1st pick next year becomes a star forward


That is a total of 9 players (6 forwards, 3 defensemen) that makes up 6/9 forwards and 3/6 defensemen. Trade leftover pieces for older players that are in their prime. Out of all these players drafted, we need atleast 3 star players, hopefully 4. Bedard is already one of them

 

[Larmer83]

Greene is listed on the roster for the deveopment camp for this summer. If he wasn't, then it might be problematic. This article is from December of 2023:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5155919/2023/12/22/blackhawks-ryan-greene-prospect/

Development camp was different this season. What did you take away from the off-ice experiences?
It was definitely a lot of different. Not skating was obviously completely different than the development camp the year before. But honestly, I loved it and I thought not skating I was able to get closer to a lot of the guys that are obviously drafted by Chicago and create some good friendships.

The article closes with this regarding joining the Hawks:

“I try not to focus on it too much,” he said. “Obviously it’s in the back of your head. I guess it’s not really in my hands. But obviously I’m gonna do everything I can to hopefully be able to make that jump at the end of next year. But, yeah, it’s exciting, but I’m just obviously trying to focus on this season and trying to get a national championship.”

I guess the underlined part could have used some clarification.

 

[AmericanDream]

I would rather have a log jam of equally aged players to beat out than a log jam of proven NHL vets like many teams have. Every single kid drafted here should be salivating at the chance to win some battles and earn a roster spot. There won't be $4-5million corpses pushing them to the minors because of cap issues like half the league has. Any of the FA signed don't have much term on those contracts and can be moved if needed. Some folks concern here is very unwarranted imo.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Y'all get so insecure about NCAA players signing

 

[clydesdale line]

Well, a bit alarming but nothing we can do but wait and see. Unlike others, he definitely would have been in the AHL so the choice makes more sense.

Meh, no different than when the Hawks wanted Slaggert to turn pro. In fact, they wanted him to turn pro even after his disappointing junior season and he still said no (alot of that was to play with his little brother but also he mentioned he had things to work on).

I'm not worried at all about Greene.

 

[Pile]

Y'all get so insecure about NCAA players signing

Kevin Hayes' decision still looming around these parts a decade later

 

[Kevin Musto]

Kevin Hayes' decision still looming around these parts a decade later

Yeah and that only happened because Stanley f***ed things up with his brother

Otherwise, NCAA prospects have always signed with Chicago

 

[TheFridge]

Yeah and that only happened because Stanley f***ed things up with his brother

Otherwise, NCAA prospects have always signed with Chicago

How did he f*** things up with Jimmy? Kevin Hayes looked like not much of anything in college until his senior season. Wasn't it the case that CHI didn't push for him to sign after his junior season? That's what likely pushed him to leave once he got to the end of his senior season, might as well go to August to see what's out there.

Didn't even matter in the end. Hayes just screwed himself out of being part of a Cup-winning team.

 

[TLEH]

Meh, no different than when the Hawks wanted Slaggert to turn pro. In fact, they wanted him to turn pro even after his disappointing junior season and he still said no (alot of that was to play with his little brother but also he mentioned he had things to work on).

I'm not worried at all about Greene.

Slaggert had his brother on the team atleast, which I understood a bit more. I’m not worried but it always perks your ears when a guy who is pretty good goes back for junior year, especially when offered.

 

[Kevin Musto]

Slaggert had his brother on the team atleast, which I understood a bit more. I’m not worried but it always perks your ears when a guy who is pretty good goes back for junior year, especially when offered.

Happened to Ian Mitchell

He still signed

 

[AmericanDream]

Happened to Ian Mitchell

He still signed

and thank the lord he did!

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

I worry Greene's agent is telling him to go back another year and possibly request a trade. The Hawks have used much higher draft capital on Nazar, Bedard, Moore, and Boisvert. His agent might be concerned that he falls 5th in line to get a center role in the NHL on a loaded prospect pool.

To be honest, Greene might be a better prospect than both Moore and Boisvert overall. Nazar and Bedard also might not play as Centers in the NHL. With all these things considered, I believe it is in the Hawks best interest to sign him when they can. My biggest concern is the Hawks might feel Greene is the most expendable because they invested so much capital into the 4 names mentioned

While I agree - at least Boisvert is so far from the NHL that he's unlikely to be part of Greene's opportunity. If you look at the roster spots that open up next off-season I would think there is plenty of opportunity for Greene. Add in the possibility of all the players listed to not play C at the NHL level and I think it's why open for Greene with the Hawks.

 

[WarriorofTime]

How did he f*** things up with Jimmy? Kevin Hayes looked like not much of anything in college until his senior season. Wasn't it the case that CHI didn't push for him to sign after his junior season? That's what likely pushed him to leave once he got to the end of his senior season, might as well go to August to see what's out there.

Didn't even matter in the end. Hayes just screwed himself out of being part of a Cup-winning team.

They underestimated the potential as it wasn’t that common. Wheeler did it and then Schultz quite a bit of time later. It was still rare. In hindsight, they should have pushed harder to sign a year earlier.