Today is Aug. 28, which means a couple things. First, obviously, we’re celebrating Steve Larmer this morning. But more immediately to the future of Blackhawks fans, we’re one month away from the first preseason game before the 2023-24 season! The preseason will give us an opportunity to see some new faces and discuss the evolution of the lineup as the coaches look at who fits where and which lines have chemistry. Bring it on!
One of the names we’ll be watching as camp begins on Aug. 21 is Connor Bedard (of course). He’s been the top prospect on every list of drafted players we’ve seen thus far this offseason, and will continue to be until he graduates because he’s an NHL regular immediately this season. On Monday morning, Corey Pronman at The Athletic released an updated list of his . This list is not exclusively prospects; it’s every player under the age of 23. And you know what? Bedard is still No. 1. But how well represented were the Blackhawks on the rest of Pronman’s list?
We already saw Pronman rank the Blackhawks’ prospect group second in the NHL. Pronman has Bedard all alone in his top tier of players, labeling him a “Bubble generational player and elite NHL player.” That’s pretty heavy stuff when you consider No. 2 on his list is Jack Hughes (who had 99 points last season in the NHL).
Bedard is a potential franchise-changing prospect. His skill and shot are legit game-breaking attributes. His ability to beat defenders one-on-one is among the best I’ve ever seen by a 17-year-old, and the pace at which he displays that elite skill is going to allow himꦰ to execute those types of skilled plays in the NHL. Bedard is a highly imaginative puckhandler and a very creative passer. That, combined with the fact his wrist shot is a top-tier NHL weapon from anywhere in the offensive zone, makes him a projected nightmare for NHL coaches to stop on the power play.
Here’s where he ranked the rest of the Blackhawks’ players who haven’t celebrated a 23rd birthday yet:
31. Kevin Korchinski (Top of lineup player)
58. Lukas Reichel (Bubble Top of lineup player/Middle of lineup player)
79. Oliver Moore (Bubble Top of lineup player/Middle of lineup player)
113. Frank Nazar (Middle of lineup player)
158. Wyatt Kaiser (Middle of lineup player)
164. Ilya Safonov (Middle of lineup player)
These rankings have Korchinki falling one spot from Pronman’s previous list, which could be viewed as him actually improving when you consider three of the top five overall on this list — Bedard, Adam Fantilli and Matvei Michkov — were drafted this summer. Leo Carlsson and Will Smith also jumped immediately into the top 20 overall, so moving “down” one spot with five new names in front of him is a good thing.
Pronman has been pretty consistent in his consideration of Nazar being a middle of the lineup player. I would argue the combination of speed and skill we saw at the USA World Junior Summer Showcase makes him a top-six candidate who would be more in line with where Pronman has Reichel and Moore ranked.
Moore and Kaiser are new to Pronman’s rankings for the Blackhawks. The inclusion of newly drafted players cost Ryan Greene a spot on the list; he was No. 127 on the previous edition.
Speaking of Bedard, the good folks at the NHL Network asked the big question this weekend: is he an option to be the next captain of the Chicago Blackhawks — this season? Based on everything I have seen from him on the ice, he’s the right guy to be an NHL captain some day. And the comments from the other prospects during development camp make it clear that he’s a leader both in performance and by example. So I would argue he could very easily be the next captain of the Blackhawks. But not yet.
Jonathan Toews played one season in the NHL before he had the “C” placed on his sweater, making him the youngest captain in the history of the franchise at 20 years and 79 days old. If Bedard were to follow the same path — one season in the league before being named captain — he would receive the C younger than Toews did. But let’s allow Bedard to come into the NHL and establish himself as a young man before putting the pressure of the captaincy on him. It will come for him — I have no doubt of that.
What would I do for leadership this season? Three “A” guys on the roster: Connor Murphy, Tyler Johnson and Nick Foligno. Yeah, Foligno just got here and he’s on a one-year deal. But he’s been a terrific captain elsewhere during his career and is a respected leader across the league.
It’s already training camp season for lots of programs. And now we’re starting to get college programs hitting the ice. I’m going to be watching Notre Dame closely this season because I’m hoping for a nice bounce-back from Landon Slaggert before he turns pro. He’ll get a few opportunities to face off against Nazar and Moore in the Big Ten this year.
Junior teams are also in camp. We saw Samuel Savoie have a nice preseason debut for his QMJHL roster this weekend. Erie released their training camp rosters, with second-round pick Martin Misiak on the Navy Team. Misiak was the No. 1 overall pick in the import draft in the OHL this summer, so there will be plenty of attention paid to his performance this season.
Again, make sure you check out our monthly 28 on 28 piece. This edition looks at Goals Created. You might be surprised which Blackhawks legends rank lower than Larmer on the all-time list.
This is sad and unfortunate. Joonas Donskoi’s career has come to an end because of a concussion he suffered during the preseason last year.
The Washington Capitals made a major announcement on Monday, naming Brian MacLellan their president of hockey operations and general manager.
Finally, two young Cubs took the ball and shoved this weekend — and it was awesome to watch. After Jordan Wicks’ major league debut on Saturday, Javier Assad did the thing on Sunday. There’s a lot to be excited about with the young arms coming for the Cubs.
