Labor Day weekend is just about here and hockey’s still not quite ready to emerge from its summer slumber so there’s only one thing left for us to do for these homestretch of the offseason:
It’s Top 25 Under 25 time.
Yes, our critically acclaimed series returns for another spin following the same methodology as always: individual ballots submitted by the SCH staff compiled into a Top 25 list and honorable mentions sitting down at the bottom. Before we get going on this year’s venture, a reminder of what the 2023 version of the Top 25 Under 25 list resembled:
- Connor Bedard (duh)
- Kevin Korchinski
- Lukas Reichel
- Frank Nazar
- Oliver Moore
- Wyatt Kaiser
- Arvid Soderblom
- Philipp Kurashev
- Drew Commesso
- Isaak Phillips
- Alex Vlasic
- Ethan Del Mastro
- Sam Rinzel
- Nolan Allan
- Ryan Greene
- Cole Guttman
- Roman Kantserov
- Gavin Hayes
- Colton Dach
- Paul Ludwinski
- Ilya Safonov
- Jalen Luypen
- Nick Lardis
- Samuel Savoie
- Adam Gajan
The Honorable Mentions were, in alphabetical order: Martin Misiak, Filip Roos, Jaxon Stauber and Aidan Thompson
The two graduates from the 2023 list were Soderblom at No. 7 (turned 25 on Aug. 19) and Guttman at 16 (turned 25 on April 6). Everyone else on that list was still eligible for this year’s ranking, although Kurashev came in just after the Oct. 1 deadline with his upcoming 25th birthday on Oct. 12.
We’ll be presenting the rankings in the same format as last year: a Top 10 as per usual, with the remaining 15 prospects organized into groups of three: 11-15, 16-20 and 21-25. A handful of Honorable Mentions will kick things off on Friday.
Before we unveil the rankings for this year, it’s worth taking a brief trip back in time to see just how drastically things have changed in the Blackhawks prospect pipeline. Kyle Davidson was named the team’s interim general manager in October 2021 and had the interim tag removed on March 1, 2022. As a reminder of what Davidson inherited when he took over, here was our T25U25 ranking from the summer of 2021:
- Alex DeBrincat
- Kirby Dach
- Dylan Strome
- Philipp Kurashev
- Lukas Reichel
- Brandon Hagel
- Ian Mitchell
- Wyatt Kalynuk
- Nicolas Beaudin
- Drew Commesso
- Henrik Borgstrom
- Riley Stillman
- Alex Vlasic
- Alex Nylander
- Arvid Soderblom
- MacKenzie Entwistle
- Wyatt Kaiser
- Alec Regula
- Evan Barratt
- Landon Slaggert
- Isaak Phillips
- Nolan Allan
- Artur Kayumov
- Adam Gaudette
- Mike Hardman
Honorable Mentions: Caleb Jones, Michal Teply
Quite a difference in three years, isn’t it? The top six are expected to be NHLers next season, but spots seven through 12 contain one guy still in Chicago’s system, three heading to Europe and two who seem locked into AHL futures. And the Blackhawks present-day system just earned the top ranking in the league according to annual rankings from Corey Pronman of The Athletic.
At this point, though, the Blackhawks should have one of the best farm systems in the NHL. In the last three drafts, Chicago’s had three top-10 picks, five more first-rounders, five second-rounders and eight third-rounders. Credit can be given to Davidson for adding to the quantity of picks with appropriate selling of the assets Chicago had, but the future success of this whole process is going to be based on the quality of those draft picks. That’s also how we’re going to judge Davidson’s work down the road, and it remains a total unknown at this point because the Stanley Cup isn’t awarded to the NHL team with the best prospects.
There is a lot to like here but it’s far from a perfect set, something suggested by outlets beyond this one. More prospects are on the way in future drafts. Free agency is another route that’ll be explored to supplement this initial group of players. Trades are perhaps the most challenging route of all, and identifying which prospects aren’t going to around for the long haul here and packaging those pieces with future draft picks should provide Davidson sufficient bargaining chips for the shrewd hockey trades that’ll transform a good roster into a Cup-contending one. That’s where the real challenge is.
For now, though? We’ll run through this Top 25 Under 25 series and ogle Chicago being at the top of prospect rankings for now, holding on to the hope that the next climb for the Blackhawks is a journey up the NHL standings.
Editor’s note: The Top 25 Under 25 rankings are exclusive to Second City Hockey subscribers, so now is as good a time as any to show your support for SCH with a monthly subscription!