Each spring the Hockey News releases its annual Future Watch edition highlighting the top 100 prospects in the league and top 10 for each team. In an effort to illustrate a point, here is the top 15 from 2018 with each prospect's team at that point in time in parentheses:
1. Casey Mittelstadt (Sabres)
2. Elias Pettersson (Canucks)
3. Miro Heiskanen (Stars)
4. Cale Makar (Avalanche)
5. Dylan Strome (Coyotes)
6. Martin Necas (Hurricanes)
7. Eeli Tolvanen (Predators)
8. Robert Thomas (Blues)
9. Cody Glass (Golden Knights)
10. Henrik Borgstrom (Panthers)
11. Kirill Kaprizov (Wild)
12. Jordan Kyrou (Blues)
13. Alex Nylander (Sabres)
14. Lias Andersson (Rangers)
15. Filip Chytil (Rangers)
In Dylan Strome, Henrik Borgstrom, and Alex Nylander, the Blackhawks have 3 of the 15 in the organization now but each of them wouldn't be rated so highly if based on their subpar performance in the NHL to date. In fact, Borgstrom is ranked 98th in THN's 2021 top 100.
From the 2018 top 15, many like Elias Pettersson, Miro Heiskanen, Cale Makar, and Kirill Kaprizov are stars in the making, if not stars already. Others like Martin Necas, Eeli Tolvanen, Robert Thomas, and Filip Chytil are proving to be impact players in their own right.
Cody Glass still has high potential for Vegas and so does Jordan Kyrou for St. Louis. Lias Andersson has been a flop. The top prospect on the list, Casey Mittelstadt, isn't necessarily a bust but he's been slow out of the gate and may end up being a stronger 3C than a 1C.
The key observation worth noting is that besides the trio of current Hawks personnel and Andersson who is now with the Kings, the other 11 prospects are still with the original teams that drafted them. There's a plausible reason for why this may be the case.
Quite simply, the teams that originally drafted Strome, Borgstrom, Nylander, and Andersson no longer valued them highly and found them expendable. Some teams still valued them, though. In the case of three of them, the Blackhawks were that team.
Interestingly, the Hawks didn't have a 1st rounder in 2016 when their first pick was Alex DeBrincat in the 2nd round then a pair of other 2nd rounders Chad Krys and Artur Kayumov. Yet, the Hawks eventually gained two 1st rounders later in Nylander and Borgstrom.
The same scenario played out the year prior when the Hawks lacked a 2015 1st rounder and selected Graham Knott as their first pick in the 2nd round. Again, they eventually recouped a 1st rounder later by acquiring Strome along with former 2014 1st rounder Brendan Perlini.
Of course, Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman is no stranger to the pursuit of former 1st rounders. Dating back to the season after the last Stanley Cup championship in 2015, here is a rundown of other former 1st rounders who have graced recent Chicago rosters:
* Brett Connolly (Lightning)
* Marko Dano (Blue Jackets)
* John Quenneville (Devils)
* Viktor Tikhonov (Coyotes)
* Calvin de Haan (Islanders)
* Slater Koekkoek (Lightning)
* Olli Maatta (Penguins)
* Connor Murphy (Coyotes)
* David Rundblad (Blues)
* Nikita Zadorov (Sabres)
* Malcolm Subban (Bruins)
* Cam Ward (Hurricanes)
This isn't to say all of the aforementioned former 1st rounders were brought to Chicago as reclamation projects. Some were merely veterans with experience like Brett Connolly and Cam Ward while others like Marko Dano and Connor Murphy were hitting their stride when obtained.
It wouldn't be surprising to see Bowman pursue more 1st round reclamation projects in the coming years. There could be prospects from recent drafts who for various reasons may find themselves on the market for the Hawks to put in their claim.
As examples, what if down the line the following fell out of favor with the teams that drafted them:
* 2016 Sam Steel (Ducks)
* 2017 Ryan Poehling (Canadiens)
* 2018 Evan Bouchard (Oilers)
* 2019 Kaapo Kakko (Rangers)
* 2020 Dawson Mercer (Devils)
These are prospects who perked the interest of Blackhawks fans before their respective drafts took place. While it would be great to have them on Chicago's roster, they could be available because -- like Strome, Borgstrom, and Nylander -- their NHL stock dropped.
Taking on 1st round reclamation projects is fine as long as they are built to last as an impact player whether in the role that they were projected to be in upon being drafted or in a new role that evolved once their water level in the NHL was established.
Unless they have breakout seasons in 2021-22 and address their areas of weakness -- one of which is the shared deficiency of low compete level -- Strome and Nylander are falling more and more into neither category. At least in Chicago, time is running out or already has.
With the manner in which he received less ice time and became a regular healthy scratch, Strome's prognosis is that he may not have staying power. Nylander may not either if he can't match the competitiveness of rookies like Brandon Hagel who shined this past season.
As for Borgstrom, it's too early to say what his outlook is but the obvious desire is for him to reach full potential. Similar to Strome and Nylander, he graduated to the NHL too quickly by the original team that drafted him when more marination in the minors was ideal.
Looking ahead to this offseason, is this storyline going to continue? Consider former 1st rounder Sean Monahan who is rumored to be on the trade market. The question to ask is why are the Flames eager to ship him out? Is his dip in production a byproduct of Calgary's system?
The Hawks could use a center of his caliber especially if Jonathan Toews remains unfit to play and Strome is on the outs. While they have middle 6 and bottom 6 options in Philipp Kurashev, Pius Suter, MacKenzie Entwistle, and David Kampf, they still need top 6 centers.
Whether it's Monahan or another former 1st rounder who is on the market, questions to consider are why is he available, what would need to be given up to acquire him, and how would that impact the rebuild as far as not giving up prospects and high draft picks.
--
See you on the boards!
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»