With the third installment of Second City Hockey’s Top 25 Under 25 series, this time focusing on prospects Nos. 11 to 15, the group features five forwards, including two members of the Blackhawks active roster.
All rankings are calculated on a composite score based on votes from Second City Hockey’s six writers.
No. 15 — MacKenzie Entwistle
Position: Forward
Birth date: July 14, 1999 (19)
Acquired via: Trade with Arizona Coyotes
Current team: Guelph Storm (OHL)
Current stats: 31 points (17 goals, 14 assits) in 33 games
Size: 6-4, 192 pounds
Contract: Three-year, entry-level deal, $842,500 salary cap hit, RFA after contract expiration (candidate for contract slide)
Last T25U25 ranking: Unranked
Entwistle changed OHL teams earlier this month after being traded from Hamilton Bulldogs to Guelph. He’s at a point-per-game pace in four games with Guelph after falling just behind that pace with 27 points in 29 games for Hamilton. He scored three goals in five games at World Juniors with Canada.
According to this article from the Chicago Tribune in July, the Blackhawks wanted to select Entwistle in the 2017 NHL Draft before the Coyotes nabbed him with the No. 69 overall pick. And it’s not just the offense that grabbed Bowman’s attention:
“He’s not just one of these young guys who tries to score all the time,” Bowman said. “He had a pretty good year offensively, but you talk to coaches and they appreciate the way he cares about being on the penalty kill, taking important faceoffs, blocking shots, really supporting his team and not always trying to get the breakaway and score the goal.
More time remains for the 19-year-old forward to develop in the OHL, but that all-around game could be on its way to the NHL in the next few seasons.
No. 14 — Evan Barratt
Position: Forward
Birth date: Feb. 18, 1999 (19)
Acquired via: 2017 NHL Draft – Third round (90th overall)
Current team: Penn State (NCAA)
Current stats: 30 points (13G, 17A) in 19GP
Size: 5-11, 190 pounds
Contract: Unsigned
Last T25U25 ranking: Unranked
Let’s start here:
Barratt has been flying up every prospect list this season, thanks to a breakout sophomore season with 30 points in 19 games, currently the No. 2 leading scorer in the NCAA.
Because of that breakout performance, Barratt earned a spot on Team USA for the World Juniors, scoring one goal in seven games while winning 52 percent of his faceoffs. Barratt’s impressive sophomore season will be one to monitor closely as he continues to make his case as a player to be considered in Chicago’s future plans.
No. 13 — David Kampf
Position: Forward
Birth date: Jan. 12, 1995 (24)
Acquired via: Free agency
Current team: Blackhawks
Current stats: 13 points (3G, 10A), 48.9 CF%, 59.6 dZS% in 43GP
Size: 6-2, 188 pounds
Contract: One year remaining on entry-level deal, $925K salary cap hit. Restricted free agent (RFA) in 2019
Last T25U25 ranking: 17. Up 4 spots.
Kampf has quietly become one of the fixtures on Chicago’s bottom six throughout the 2018-19 season since joining the Blackhawks as a free agent in the summer of 2017. Kampf has already surpassed the point total from his rookie season and has appeared in 43 of Chicago’s 47 games, just three shy of total number of games (46) Kampf skated in 2017-18.
He’s also averaging significantly more ice time under new coach Jeremy Colliton than he was under former Hawks coach Joel Qunneville. This season, Kampf has played an average of 14:37 in each game, well over the 12:48 of ice time he averaged in 2017-18.
No. 12 — Jake Wise
Position: Center
Birth date: Feb. 28, 2000 (18)
Acquired via: 2018 NHL Draft — Third round (No. 69 overall)
Current team: Boston University (NCAA)
Current stats: 2 assists in 12 games
Size: 5-10, 190 pounds
Contract: Unsigned
Last T25U25 ranking: 10. Down 2 spots.
Wise was projected as one of the potential steals of the 2018 NHL Draft when injury concerns led to Wise sliding down to a third-round selection for the Blackhawks. And those injury concerns resurfaced just before Christmas, when Wise was ruled out for the remainder of the season for Boston University.
It was a quiet freshman season for Wise, who failed to light the lamp in the dozen games he played before the injury. He hadn’t appeared in a game since a 0-0 tie against Boston College on Dec. 1 and, three weeks later, coach Albie O’Connell confirmed the news to The Athletic.
No. 11 — Brendan Perlini
Position: Winger
Birth date: April 27th, 1996 (22)
Acquired via: Trade with Arizona
Current team: Blackhawks
Current stats: 4 points (3G, 1A) in 21GP
Size: 6-3, 211 pounds
Contract: One year remaining on entry-level deal, $863.3k salary cap hit. RFA in 2019
Last T25U25 ranking: N/A
Perlini was a bit of an afterthought in the trade that brought Dylan Strome, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 draft, to Chicago. But Perlini had his own lofty expectations to fulfill after being selected No. 12 overall in the 2014 draft. He hadn’t lived up to that billing in Arizona and a similar scenario has unfolded in Chicago, with Perlini rotating between the bottom two forward lines. There are moments when Perlini has flashed the strength and size that caught scouts’ eyes ahead of the 2014 draft, like his stellar performance in the Winter Classic.
But those types of performances have been too rare of an occurrence for Perlini, who’ll likely remain in that bottom six for the remainder of the season.