Of the players projected to be locks for the Blackhawks 2021-22 roster, only 4 of them are their own draft picks with most being 1st rounders but the fourth one being their top pick in a year when they lacked a pick in the opening round.
* Jonathan Toews (2006 1st)
* Patrick Kane (2007 1st)
* Alex DeBrincat (2016 2nd)
* Kirby Dach (2019 1st)
Two more Chicago-drafted players -- Philipp Kurashev (2018 4th) and Lukas Reichel (2020 1st) -- may be competing for spots during training camp coming up in a few weeks but could fall short and start the new season on the 1st line in Rockford.
For the rest of the projected roster, 13 players were traded for and another 6 were signed as free agents. Of this list, 10 were acquired over the past several months from around the most recent trade deadline through the current offseason.
* Henrik Borgstrom (Panthers)
* Brett Connolly (Panthers)
* Marc-Andre Fleury (Golden Knights)
* Adam Gaudette (Canucks)
* Tyler Johnson (Lightning)
* Jujhar Khaira (Oilers)
* Caleb Jones (Oilers)
* Seth Jones (Blue Jackets)
* Jake McCabe (Sabres)
* Riley Stillman (Panthers)
Then, of these 19 players not drafted by the Hawks, 8 are former 1st rounders drafted by other teams.
* Henrik Borgstrom (Panthers)
* Brett Connolly (Lightning)
* Calvin de Haan (Islanders)
* Marc-Andre Fleury (Penguins)
* Seth Jones (Predators)
* Connor Murphy (Coyotes)
* Alex Nylander (Sabres)
* Dylan Strome (Coyotes)
When zooming out to look at the roster as a whole, it appears like the roster is predominantly composed of players who got their start outside of the organization. Couple that with the feeling that the Hawks are going all in this season to be a playoff competitor, is the team trying to buy a championship?
Is that really the case, though?
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Take Dominik Kubalik as an example. While he was originally drafted by the Kings in 2013, he never spent any time in their system whether with their AHL or ECHL affiliates or even with the big club. Brandon Hagel is the same way having never played in the Sabres system after they drafted him in 2016.
Kubalik and Hagel have thrived immediately upon joining the Blackhawks organization by way of trade and free agency, respectively. After 5 seasons of pro hockey in the Czech Republic and Switzerland, Kubalik jumped straight to the NHL. Hagel played a season in the AHL then turned in an impressive NHL rookie campaign.
While neither Kubalik nor Hagel were Chicago draft picks, does that entry point really matter if they got their chance at the pros (in North America) with the Hawks rather than the teams that did draft them? Most fans don't seem to care for one thing. Also, Kubalik and Hagel are anything but reclamation projects.
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Connor Murphy exemplifies another scenario as a player who was drafted by and actually played several seasons with another team but has entered his prime as a Blackhawk. There's hope that fellow Big 3 defenders Seth Jones and Jake McCabe do the same by hitting their stride in Chicago after stints in Nashville, Columbus, and Buffalo.
Similarly but more like a dying flicker now than a growing flame is the potential for Alex Nylander and Dylan Strome to finally put it all together by adding consistency and compete level to their high-end talent that got them drafted not only in the 1st round but in the top 10 -- even the top 3 in Strome's case.
Yet, like Jones and McCabe, there's hope that the best is still to come for Nylander and Strome to fulfill expectations. If that happens for either or both of them, then that would be a boon for the Hawks for years to come as burgeoning forwards in the top 6 or for use as valuable trade assets to leverage favorable returns.
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Another question that emerges from these roster observations is whether the Hawks will eventually have a composition of predominantly players who they drafted especially when considering what may be a recalibrated timeline of the youth movement by letting the youngsters marinate another season with the farm team.
One way to address this question is by looking at who are the up-and-coming prospects in not only the minor leagues with the IceHogs but also other lower leagues like the NCAA and Canadian juniors as well as leagues in Europe and Russia. Could they become impact starters for the Hawks within the next several years?
Here is a suggested list of Chicago draft picks to get excited about:
* Nolan Allan (2021)
* Andrei Altybarmakian (2017)
* Evan Barratt (2017)
* Nicolas Beaudin (2018)
* Drew Commesso (2020)
* Colton Dach (2021)
* Jakub Galvas (2017)
* Wyatt Kaiser (2020)
* Chad Krys (2016)
* Ian Mitchell (2017)
* Isaak Phillips (2020)
* Antti Saarela (2019)
* Landon Slaggert (2020)
* Josiah Slavin (2018)
* Victor Stjernborg (2021)
* Michal Teply (2019)
* Alex Vlasic (2019)
* Jake Wise (2018)
Like with the Blackhawks projected 2021-22 roster, not all system personnel with high potential came straight to Chicago via the draft:
* MacKenzie Entwistle (trade)
* Mike Hardman (free agency)
* Alec Regula (trade)
* Arvid Soderblom (free agency)
Compared to this current season's roster where there was almost a 5-to-1 ratio of acquired players to original draft picks, the future flips the script by having more than a 4-to-1 ratio of original draft picks to acquired players. That's a better trend when thinking about developing a contender from in house.
There are a few caveats, however, with this strategy for development. One caveat is that this is how the ratio stands today. There's a draft and free agency period each summer so that may impact the ratio each offseason. Additionally, trades happen year round and they too influence this ratio in an on-going manner.
A second caveat is that not all of the players who the Hawks draft will pan out. Some could simply never make it to the NHL. Some could get edged out due to a sheer numbers game so they seek a more open path through another organization. And some could be viable prospects who are coveted in trades to gain new assets.
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There's an adage that contenders are built from within via the draft then that home-grown nucleus is supplemented by free agents and trade acquisitions. There's truth to that as the recent Cup era had Toews, Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Corey Crawford complemented by Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp, and Brian Campbell.
With that in mind, are the Hawks poised to build a durable and formidable contender with this formula again? Even if the team makes the playoffs, goes far, and even wins the whole kit-n-kaboodle, this season may not be the ideal blueprint from which to build the team in subsequent years.
Rather, the benchmark for sustainability of perennial contention may start next season and seasons thereafter when the deferred youth movement starts back up again and gains momentum with incremental yet properly timed and methodical graduation of prospects through the ranks and finally up with the varsity club.
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For your reference, click the following links if you want to see recent profiles on the Blackhawks top prospects by position:
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Forwards
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Defensemen
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Goalies
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See you on the boards!
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