The Chicago Blackhawks are entering the post-Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane era. While the franchise struck gold by winning the NHL Draft Lottery and then drafting Connor Bedard, what’s next in the pipeline in this rebuild?
Ahead of the 2023–24 NHL season, The Athletic’s Corey Pronman compiled a ranking of every franchise’s farm system. The Blackhawks saw a significant jump from their No. 13 ranking before last season.
Pronman ranked Chicago as the No. 2 farm system, so it’s an 11-position leap. Even though adding Bedard to the prospect list is helpful, it’s more than the former Regina Pats pushing the Blackhawks system toward the top.
“After a few years of a tepid rebuild, Chicago has a foundation now to turn around their organization,” Pronman wrote in his analysis of the Blackhawks’ prospect pipeline. “It’s led by the obvious, in Connor Bedard, who has the potential to be a franchise-changing star.
“It’s more than Bedard though, as Kevin Korchinski, Lukas Reichel, and Oliver Moore are very strong prospects as well, and this is a deep pipeline in general, even if the top end past Bedard and Korchinski isn’t amazing.”
Bedard is the No. 1 prospect in the pipeline, but there are some players behind him that the Blackhawks are likely high on, too. Korchinski, who was drafted No. 7 overall in 2022, can potentially be a top-pairing defenseman. The 19-year-old registered 73 points in 54 games from the blue line for the Seattle Thunderbirds in the 2022–23 season.
What Comes After Connor Bedard and Kevin Korchinski In the Blackhawks’ System?
Reichel and Moore are next on the ranking. However, what puts the duo below Bedard and Korchinski is that Pronman views the two young players as bubble players playing on the team’s top lineup.
The 21-year-old Reichel did play 23 games with the Blackhawks last season, scoring 15 points. Along with his time at the NHL level, the German spent most of his time with the Rockford IceHogs.
Reichel played 55 games for the IceHogs, registering 51 points. Meanwhile, Moore, the No. 19 overall selection in the 2023 draft, will play at the University of Minnesota this season.
What does the rest of the top 10 prospect ranking look like? Here are the remaining players outside the top four:
5. Frank Nazar, C, drafted No. 13 in 2022
6. Wyatt Kaiser, D, No. 81 in 2020
7. Ilya Safonov, C, drafted No. 172 in 2021
8. Colton Dach, C, drafted No. 62 in 2021
9. Nolan Allan, D, drafted No. 32 in 2021
10. Gavin Hayes, LW, No. 66 in 2022
