For years, the Chicago Blackhawks have reaped the benefits (such as they are) of being shitty by drafting early. While this can lead to the occasional Remi Royer or Mikhail Yakubov, it also led to Jonathan Toews being available at 3 in 2006 and getting the top pick in 2007, which was Patrick Kane.

The teams have their tables arranged according to draft position. This means the Edmonton Oilers were up front, and the Chicago Blackhawks were waaaaay in back. Also, since their pick was last in the first round, nothing earth shattering was going to happen, so I took my wife dancing instead of waiting around for hours to see a teenager pull on a Hawks sweater.

Let's see how they did:

Kevin Hayes, RW 6'2 201 - 1st Round, 24th overall (From Atlanta)

Really good pick. He's got good size, and moves around the ice well for a kid his size. He'll join his brother Jimmy (who the Blackhawks acquired from Toronto for a second-round pick) at Boston College this fall. Kevin is quicker and more skilled than Jimmy, but he's inexperienced. The Hawks are in a position where they don't require any immediate help, and so they can wait for Hayes. The fact that he's going to BC means he'll be able to develop in a top-flight program.

OK, A quick word for the benefit of neophyte hockey fans. You more experienced types might want to skip onto the next part:

Here's how the NHL draft rules work...once you draft a kid, one of two things happens: if he's playing Junior hockey, you've got a year to get him under contract. Otherwise he goes back into the draft. If he's in college, the clock doesn't start running while he's in school. So deafting someone right out of high school like Hayes means you have even more development time than usual.

Ludvig Rensfeldt, LW 6'3 192 - 2nd round, 35th overall (From Islanders)

Another forward with pretty good size, Rensfeldt entered this season looking like someone ready to make the jump into the top ranks for this year's draft class. His numbers really weren't bad, 21G29A in 39 regular season games in Swedish Juniors. Basically the same as the previous year though, which means there didn't seem to be much development. One knock on him seems to be a lackadaisical approach. That's a shame, because the little I know about him is that he's a pretty good two-way forward, something the Hawks obviously love.

Justin Holl, D 6'2 170 - 2nd round, 54th overall (From Atlanta)

Holl, like Hayes, is an American high schooler. In fact, Americans were a big story in this year's draft, with 11 being selected in the first round and 11 more in the second. Holl had an outstanding year, captaining his high school team to a state championship and being a finalist for the state's Mr. Hockey award. He also played for Omaha in the USHL once his high school season was over, picking up 4 assists in 11 games. He's going to the University of Minnesota, where he can join fellow Blackhawks prospect Nick Leddy on the blueline.

Kent Simpson, G 6'2 182 - 2nd round, 58th overall (From Islanders)

CT is gonna love this guy. Not only for the inevitable Simpsons references, but he's a stand-up goalie. He played for the Canadian under-18 team, and had an outstanding season playing for Everett in the Western League, posting a .925 save percentage and 2.26 goals against. He was also awarded the team's Scholastic Player of the Year award.

Stephen Johns, D 6'3 215 - 2nd round, 60th overall

Nice big kid from Wampum PA, Dick Allen's home town. Allen once wore "Wampum" on his name plate when he played for the A's. Hopefully Johns will fight that temptation. One of seven players from the US under-18 team chosen in the first two rounds, Johns will be attending Notre Dame next season. That will drive the Hawks' green jersey sales.

Joakim Nordstrom, C 6'1 160 3rd round, 90th overall

When I did last season's draft recap, the recurring theme was "needs to bulk up". This is the first guy I've had to say this about. He gor 6G9A in 28 games in Swedish Junior. See how he develops.

Rob Flick, C 6'2 190 4th round, 120th overall

15 goals, 19 assists, 15 fights, 157 penalty minutes in 65 regular-season games in the OHL. This kid's a good boy.



Mirko Hoefflin, C 5'11 154 6th round, 151st overall (From Edmonton)

A little guy with good hands - 32G35A in 24 German Junior League games. Yeah, I didn't know there was a German Junior League either. By virtue of being drafted, he's automatically the best German player since Uwe Krupp.

Nick Mattson D 6'1 190 6th round, 180th overall

This might be the Hawks' sleeper. He had a solid season with the Indiana Ice, overcoming injuries early to post 5G14A in 51 games. He's attending the University of North Dakota this fall, but he actually looks like he might develop into a fairly solid two-way defender.

Mac Carruth G 6'2 172 7th round, 191st overall (from Dallas)

Not great numbers in his first year in the Western League - a .893 save percentage to go along with 3.41 GAA. To be fair, Portland's goalies didn't exactly have a bunch of Duncan Keiths in front of them, but still...


So the Hawks looked for size in this draft, and also chose all "project" players. Fortunately, they have enough talent at the NHL level, along with a decent pipeline of talent closer to NHL readiness, to where these players won't be under any pressure to get to that level any sooner than is proper.

Once we have the benefit of hindsight, we can fully evaluate this draft class. But there are a few guys here who actually look like pretty solid picks. We'll see.