With their second pick in the fourth-round, the Blackhawks selected another player with size: 6-foot-4 and 214 pound Brantford Bulldogs’ winger Parker Holmes.
Holmes is an *interesting* pick for the Blackhawks simply because he was unranked by, well, every public draft evaluator.
Parker Holmes to Chicago. Completely unranked by all ~60 boards I tracked, and NHLCS!! Also had 1 point in the OHL this year, bold strategy by the Hawks here…#NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/Q0Wb7OUOGC
— Dan Tayman (@Dan10900) June 28, 2025
As a 15-year-old with the Kemptville 73’s U18 program, Holmes had a solid season with 49 points (25 G, 24 A) in 41 regular season games added another 13 more points (4 G, 9 A) in 11 playoff games. But his offensive numbers took a sharp drop when he moved up to junior A with the Kemptville 73’s CCHL team with 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in 51 games. The Ontario native was selected then the seventh-round of the 2023 OHL Priority Selection by Brantford, where he scored a single goal and had no assists in 21 games. He did miss most of the season after having shoulder surgery in November, though.
The Blackhawks did see Holmes in action some considering he was teammates with two of their prospects last season, Nick Lardis and Marek Vanacker. Considering Holmes’ offensive numbers in the OHL are very lackluster, the Blackhawks were likely drawn to his size, general athleticism, and physicality.
Blackhawks #107 pick Parker Holmes seems pretty good at fighting pic.twitter.com/grG3mWt62J
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) June 28, 2025