NHL Draft Hits And Misses - Chicago Blackhawks

Over the next couple of weeks I will look at each team in the NHL, and see how they have performed at the NHL draft. There are basically 3 really important areas to determine the level of success at one of the most inexact sciences in the game – selecting 17 and 18 year old kids and projecting what they will be like over the next 10 or 15 years.

Those three areas are: 1) Success in the first round; 2) Success in the second round and 3) The number of drafted players playing on a team’s roster. I limit it to the first 2 rounds because that is where a majority of the impact players come from, and also where mistakes in judgement are magnified. Players that come after the second round for the most part are fortunate picks and if they work out it is a bonus. Henrik Zetterberg, for example, was a 7th round pick, and although you could claim Detroit was skilled in unearthing a prospect at that point in the draft, if they had known he was going to be as good as he turned out to be, they wouldn’t have waited that long. There is as much good luck as good management for a player like that, and that is factored in in the 3rd area of success.

Now we turn our attention to the Chicago Blackhawks, and their track record since the year 2000.

FIRST ROUND SUCCESS:

The Blackhawks have selected 17 players in the first round, with 8 of them making some impact in the NHL, for a success rate of 47%.

SECOND ROUND SUCCESS:

In the second round, 6 of the 24 players they selected have gone on to play a significant amount of time, resulting in a 25% success rate.

HOME-DRAFTED TALENT:

The Hawks had 12 Chicago-drafted players play games with them this past season.

SUCCESSES – Obviously the foundation of the franchise were picked up in consecutive seasons, with Jonathan Toews 3rd overall in 2006 and Patrick Kane 1st overall in 2007.

FAILURES – Kyle Beach was an 11th overall pick in 2008 and toiled in the minors until traded to the Rangers organization last December having never suited up in an NHL game.

STEALS – Dustin Byfuglien was an 8th round pick in 2003, 242nd overall. He was in integral part of the Hawks’ first Cup win. A year earlier the Hawks picked up Adam Burish with the 282 pick.