It’s difficult not to get thrilled when you see Connor Bedard wearing a Blackhawks jersey on the ice for the first time, even though the season is still two months away. Although he has received excellent reviews, which is well deserved, he is unquestionably still a prospect. As a result, he is a part of our future and our pool of potential players.
While there is no disputing that Connor Bedard is the league’s top prospect, it is crucial to remember that this is a team sport and that true team success requires both number and quality. Since taking over as interim and now permanent general manager, Kyle Davidson has selected two classes of players while also dismantling the remnants of the previous administration. This entails a whole reset, which was unquestionably overdue.
I was always amazed that I could actually compile a list with 50 players for the article while conducting my investigation. Only 30 to 40 guys can typically be considered true prospects when you look around the league.
So does that imply that our prospect pool is the best? Not quite yet, in my opinion. I notice a few clubs in the league who, because of the number of years they have been adding, have prospect quality (NHL top talent to quality NHL depth to AHL depth) that is slightly superior to ours.
When considering teams who have an advantage on our list as it stands right now, the Sabres, Ducks, and Blue Jackets come to mind. Exists a “Connor Bedard” there? They don’t, but they all have depth in the top 6 or top 4 predicted NHL talent categories, which ultimately leads to league victories.
The Sabres have spent what seems like an eternity improving through the draft. Zach Benson, the 13th pick in this year’s draft, was a steal for them as well. He was (in my perspective) the prospect I ranked fifth. It’s difficult to argue that they don’t have the greatest group in the league when you include recent #1 pick Owen Power, Matthew Savoie, Jiri Kulich, Devon Levi, Noah Ostlund, Isak Rosen, JJ Peterka, and Jack Quinn (all under 100 games old and under 23 years old).
Almost everyone was shocked when the Ducks selected Leo Carlsson over Adam Fantilli in the draft. They will regret doing this, as I have stated many times before. Fantilli has the appearance of a premier two-way center who will eventually wear a captain’s patch, not because Carlsson won’t be an exceptionally strong player. In spite of this perception, the Ducks have a ton of youthful talent that will be moving to Anaheim soon. All but ready for their NHL careers to start are Carlsson, Zellweger, Mintyukov, Gaucher, Dostal, Pastujov, Hinds, Perreault, Luneau, Warren, Helleson, and Lacombe.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are last. It’s true that they “lost and won” the draft. Despite having excellent odds once again, they finish third, only to be rewarded with a worthy first-round pick in Adam Fantilli. Add David Jiricek, who in my opinion have the best defensive potential in all of hockey. It appears that the franchise is moving in a new path when those 2 outstanding players are joined by players like Kent Johnson, Mateychuk, Tarasov, Del bel Belluz, Svozil, Ceulemans, and Dumais.
Detroit, New Jersey, Arizona, and Minnesota are a few other franchises who have a strong young prospect core; nevertheless, right now Chicago is in the lead. The Blackhawks, in my opinion, have the third or fourth best “pool” of prospects in hockey right now. Where will our prospect core rank once Connor Bedard is no longer a potential candidate? The wins will start to come in, in my opinion, if we can maintain our position in the top 5 of the league with solid drafts. In the end, Connor Bedard can’t handle everything by himself.