Five Blackhawks prospects were named to The Athletic’s Top 100 NHL prospect list by Corey Pronman on Thursday. Center Kirby Dach is the highest rated among the group at No. 9, followed by defenseman Adam Boqvist (No. 25), wingers Alex Nylander (No. 75) and Dominik Kubalik (No. 82) and defenseman Ian Mitchell (No. 92).
Pronman split the prospects into tier levels: special, elite, high-end, very good and legit. Jack Hughes, the top overall pick in this year’s draft by the Devils, is the lone prospect in the special tier and the No. 2 pick Kaapo Kakko by the Rangers is in the special/elite bubble by himself.
Dach, the third overall pick, projects as a No. 1 center that makes high-end plays. Pronman highlights Dach’s vision, play on the power play and ability to play heavy minutes. Dach could play in the NHL this season or be reassigned to the Saskatoon Blades in the WHL. Pronman ranked four players above Dach that were selected after him in the draft: Colorado’s Bowen Byram (No. 5), Montreal’s Cole Caufield (No. 6), Los Angeles’ Alex Turcotte (No. 7) and Anaheim’s Trevor Zegras (No. 8).
Boqvist, the eighth overall selection in 2018, stayed put at No. 25 from last year’s ranking in the high-end tier. Pronman notes Boqvist struggled to defend for the London Knights in the OHL during his first North American season, but is a calm puck-mover with a “very, very good” wrist shot and can skate well. Boqvist is expected to play in the AHL this upcoming season.
Nylander (2016 first-rounder) and Kubalik (2013 seventh-rounder) both fall into the very good tier, with the former dropping from No. 49 to No. 75. Kubalik was unranked last year. Nylander has “high-end skill and even better vision,” but his pace is characterized as “mediocre at best.” Chicago acquired him in the offseason for defenseman Henri Jokiharju, who was not eligible for the list given the amount of NHL games played. Kubalik is “fairly skilled and skates fine” and has a “cannon” for a shot. Chicago acquired him in January from the Kings and look for him to be a top-nine player this season after earning MVP honors in Switzerland’s National League.
Mitchell (2017 second-rounder) also made the jump from unranked to rank and fell the very good/legit section. The University of Denver junior defenseman is a confident puck carrier who plays at a fast pace with “high-end vision.” His speed isn’t high-end for a defenseman his size (5-foot-11, 174 pounds), but he “skates quite well,” according to Pronman. Mitchell plans to play one more NCAA season with the Pioneers before signing with Chicago.