What are the Blackhawks getting with No. 34 overall pick Xavier Villeneuve?

Without a first-round pick for the first time since 2021, the Blackhawks didn’t have to wait long on Day 2 to make their first selection. With the No. 34 pick, they drafted one of the 2026 class’s most intriguing boom-or-bust prospects in defenseman Xavier Villeneuve.

There were few blue-liners capable of controlling a game with the puck in the way Villeneuve can, and some evaluators even viewed him as a first-round talent despite concerns surrounding his size and defensive game. Chicago is betting that his elite skating, hockey IQ and offensive creativity will outweigh those concerns and give the organization another dynamic, puck-moving defenseman with legitimate top-four upside. Whether Villeneuve will reach that lofty upside remains to be seen — and it will take some time — but that’s exactly the type of high-ceiling swing worth taking with an early second-round pick.

So, let’s take a deeper look at the player whom Elite Prospects boldly described like this: “The only prospect in this year’s draft with higher upside than Xavier Villeneuve is our No. 1-ranked prospect, Gavin McKenna.”