I always like to take a little time to fully digest and appreciate the experience of a draft before breaking down how I feel about it. Well, except for the two-round, done in one day NBA draft. Especially when the Bulls don’t have a pick in the first round.
The Chicago Blackhawks started the 2023 NHL Draft with🌠 11 selꦜections. They finished the event making.
That was a bit of a surprise; many felt the Blackhawks would need to mortgage at least one additional pick if they wanted to move up from No. 19. And others thought the Blackhawks might package picks to slide up into the back-end of the first round. In fact, the Blackhawks only made one trade involving picks in this year’s draft class during the draft, and it was moving out of a second-round pick this year while bringing back a sixth-round pick this year and a second-round pick in 2024.
But that was kind of the theme of the entire 2023 NHL Draft. There weren’t many trades. Indeed, there weren’t any involving first-round picks during the draft — which was an absolute shocker. Teams were apparently happy with the quality of the player they were able to get in their spot and didn’t feel the need to move out, though many teams did try (including Chicago).
So, with the dust settled and a night’s sleep to dream about it, how do we all feel about the Blackhawks’ 2023 draft class? I have some thoughts… so let’s get into it.
Best Pick — Connor Bedard
Duh.
Non-Bedard Pick I Love — Oliver Moore (No. 19 overall)
If you’ve read any of my pre-draft stuff, I’ve been on Moore for a long time this summer. When you read his scouting report it sounds like Frank Nazar 2.0: an under-six foot center who can absolutely wheel, has good hands and compete and will get tested for at leas🧸t one year at a strong program in the Big Ten.
Best Value — Nick Lardis (No. 67 overall)
There were some mock drafts that had Lardis flying all the way up into the conversation for a late-first selection. Many felt he would come off the board before the end of the second round, so the Blackhawks getting him to start the third is good value. I really like this player; he isn’t big (a shade under 5-11) but he can skate and has a good shot. He also likes to work between the circles, which is something we’ve heard the Blackhawks’ front office and coaches talk about a lot. He started last season relatively slowly with Peterborough, but a mid-season trade to Hamilton saw his numbers — and draft stock — skyrocket. He went off for 25 goals and 46 points in 33 games with Hamilton down the stretch and then added five goals and five assists in only six playoff games. I really like what I saw from Gavin Hayes this past season in his post-dra🐬ft season and think Lardis could be that guy this year.
Best Sleeper — Alex Pharand (No. 99 overall)
Lardis scored 37 goals last season in the OHL, so it’s easy to get excited about that in a prospect. Pharand was a guy who caught my eye when I was considering my pre-draft forward rankings because of his size and skillset more than the numbers in the box score. Pharand scored 12 goals with 21 assists in 67 games for Subury in the OHL this past season — not enormous numbers by any means. When you get down to the fourth round of the draft, a player making to the NHL is a plus and I think Pharand has a shot. He’s listed at just under 6-3 and 200 pounds, which is already intriguing as a center. He can skate and plays physical, which raises my eyebrows further. If he gets to the NHL and can contribute as a big, bottom-line center who can kill penalties and hit people that’s cool by me. And I think that’s entirely possible for this pick.
Biggest Surprise — Adam Gajan (No. 35 overall)
When I wrote about goaltenders the Blackhawks might consider in the draft, I didn’t include Gajan. When asked why, my response was simple: I didn’t think he would make it to the 44th overall pick, and I didn’t think the Blackhawks would take a goalie before then. Well, I was right about him not lasting that long! Gajan was a second-year eligible goaltender whose stock went through the roof during the World Juniors, where he took over the crease and was named the best goalie in the tournament after stealing a win against the United States and keeping his team in a game against Canada. He is probably the most athletic goaltender in this year’s draft class and, at just under 6-3, has the size you look for in net. The good news with this player is, after coming over from Slovakia to play in the NAHL, he’s going the college route so there’s absolutely no rush to get him to the NHL. He’ll be at Minnesota-Duluth, where the Blackhawks will be able to watch him and center Dominic James together. With Drew Commesso ju🦋st starting his professional career this coming season, I thought Chicago would wait longer to take a netminder b▨ut they got a good one.
Biggest Reach — Roman Kantserov (No. 44 overall)
When you have 11 picks, you can grab a lottery ticket or two. Last year, the Blackhawks used their third pick in the first round on defenseman Sam Rinzel, but I understood that reach because he’s a 6-4, right-handed defenseman who can skate like the wind — those players are hard to find, so even if Rinzel is rough around the edges, the organization can let him develop at the University of Minnesota for a few years before making a decision. In the case of Kantserov, the Blackhawks opted to take a young Russian forward who can skate was productive in the MHL this past season. But he’s listed at 5-9 and there isn’t a lot about his game that screams second-round pick. Because he was in Russia, we really haven’t seen a lot of him (and won’t until the politics clean up) but the front office clearly liked something about his game enough to take him in the middle of the second round. I saw him as more of a mid-third to early-fourth round player.
Darkhorse Value — Martin Misiak (No. 55 overall)
I think the player we aren’t talking about now but probably will in six months is Misiak. Clearly the Blackhawks’ front office was paying close attention when Slovakia was playing at the World Juniors in the most recent tournament because two of their players — Gajan and Misiak — wound up being second-round picks by Chicago. Misiak is listed at 6-2 and is a tremendous athlete who can skate. He played 29 games in Slovakia before joining Youngstown in the USHL, where he had a strong second half to the season and a good playoff run that saw him produce 10 points in nine games.
Overall Thoughts
My approach to draft classes in the NHL (and NFL and MLB for that matter) is once the draft is over, where the player was selected doesn’t determine his future. The goal for the Blackhawks right now is to add quality and quantity; they need a stronger pipeline up front and once again showed they know that in using nine of their 11 picks on forwards.
If the Blackhawks can get four NHL regulars out of this draft class, that’s awesome. I believe they have two top-six forwards at the top of the draft in Bedard and Moore. So, from the other nine picks, are there two guys who can make it to the NHL and have a career? If the Blackhawks had selected Kantserov and Lardis in the opposite order, I would have been fine with both picks in their respective locations; I think Lardis has a future. From there, the Blackhawks were able to add some size and depth to their prospect ranks.
Overall, I would give the Blackhawks an A for this draft. They were going to get an A no matter what because they landed Bedard. But Moore falling into their lap at 19 feels like stealing. And they were able 🅰to add a goalte𓆉nder to the pipeline and add a few interesting forward prospects as well.
The Blackhawks drafted nine players last year who I can see making it to the NHL. This year, I don’t see as much quality depth. But the Blackhawks lacked high-end, elite skill up front in that class. They got that in Bedard and Moore.
So if the Blackhawks wake up today with a future superstar and a collection of forwards from Davidson’s two drafts that mean he has a dozen really good options for his bottom-six forwards, that’s mission accomplished to me. A future with Bedard, Moore, Nazar and Lukas Reichel in your top-six is a good start with a LOT of speed. And, remember, the Blackhawks still have a truckload of cap space to play with in coming years…
