So 2014 was not a "pretty" draft for Chicago and 2015 doesn't look much better.
On this edition of Re-Draft Friday, we will be looking at a Hawks team who didn't have a 1st round selection as it was traded to Arizona – along with Klas Dahlbeck – for Antoine Vermette.
Vermette was instrumental in the Hawks winning another Stanley Cup, so it was worth giving up the pick.
The Hawks postseason saw them take down Nashville, swept Minnesota, battled it out with the Ducks and finally, ousting the Lighting in 6 games.
This left Stan Bowman very busy again. Let's first take a look at the summer overhaul that the Hawks GM went through:
There's a lot to unpack there.
Raanta was shipped out after the emergence of Scott Darling made him expendable.
Brandon Saad's bluff was called by Chicago and they sent him packing to Columbus the day before free agency for Artem Anisimov and spare parts.
Anders Nilsson wanted to play in the NHL so the Hawks trade him too.
Lastly, Bowman made a terrible trade that included Patrick Sharp and Stephen Johns. Sure, Garbutt and Daley could have been used better by Coach Q but still, the return was not a good one.
Back to the draft, the Hawks had 7 picks but as I mentioned above, there was not a 1st rounder in the cards.
So at 54th overall, Mark Kelley and Co. opted to go with Graham Knott. It looks like this selection was foreshadowing for the rest of their draft.
Let's take a look:
Honestly, Dennis Gilbert looks like the only real potential NHLer of the group. Some are high on Joni Tuulola but I don't have high hopes for the Finnish defender.
While I do like Gilbert and think there could be a viable option as a future bottom dman that offers something the Hawks currently lack – physicality - there isn't a ton of optimism here.
How did Round 1 and 2 look for everyone else?
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(Courtesy of HockeyDB.com)
There a lot of really great players that came out of the Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel draft. And oh hey… there's Dylan Strome at #3. So, the Hawks didn't come up completely empty-handed.
As this is 2015, a lot of players on this list are currently negotiating their 2nd contracts. This summer marks the best RFA class that I can remember; elite talent like Marner, Rantanen, Provorov, Werenski, Konecny, Meier, Connor and Boeser. That's a lot of cheddar that will be handed out in the next few weeks.
Now, on to the awards:
Best Value Pick – Sebastian Aho (the better one) (CAR), 35th overall
Worst Pick – Jakub Zboril (BOS), 13th & Zachary Senyshyn (BOS), 15th … luckily BOS drafted Jake DeBrusk at 14th overall. Woof.
"Oh Hey, I Forgot About Him" Pick – Ilya Samsonov (WAS), 22nd
Next week is the last edition of Re-Draft Friday where I will look at 2016, as well as rank these drafts from 2010-2016.
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What are your thoughts on this draft?
See ya out there,
TC
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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