The Chicago Blackhawks are loaded with talent. There’s Patrick Kane, Brandon Saad, Nick Schmaltz at forward, defenseman Duncan Keith and goaltender Corey Crawford, just to name a few.
But what about the future of the franchise? Where are the future star players playing this season? Here’s a guide to following the Chicago’s prospects all across the globe, including the AHL, NCAA, USHL, WHL and overseas in the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden.
AHL, Rockford IceHogs
It was a rough 2016-17 season in Rockford as the IceHogs finished in eighth place in the Central Division and fourth to last overall in the AHL. But this season the IceHogs have plenty of scorers to take them back to the playoffs.
The top offensive players to watch will be Alexandre Fortin, Vinnie Hinostroza, Matt Iacopelli, Anthony Louis and Nathan Noel. Hinostroza should be Chicago’s top pick to be called up seeing that he played in 49 NHL games last season. The other four players will all be in their first seasons in Rockford. Fortin and Noel were both elite scorers in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League while Iacopelli (Western Michigan) and Louis (Miami OH) were their team’s top scorers.
On defensive, look no further than Ville Pokka and Luc Snuggerud. Pokka enters his fourth season with Rockford, and it’s a make it or break it type season for him to crack the main roster. Snuggerud signed with Chicago after his junior season at Nebraska-Omaha, and made his presence felt immediately this spring with a goal and four assists in 13 games with Rockford. Erik Gustafsson and Viktor Svedberg both played with Chicago during the 2015-16 season.
Radovan Bondra, F
- Acquired: 2015 draft, fifth round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Carl Dahlström, D
- Acquired: 2013 draft, second round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Laurent Dauphin, F
- Acquired: 2017 Niklas Hjalmarsson trade
- SCH T25U25: No. 20/
Alexandre Fortin, F
- Acquired: 2016 undrafted free agent signing
- SCH T25U25: No. 12/
Erik Gustafsson, D
- Acquired: 2015 free signing
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Vinnie Hinostroza, F
- Acquired: 2012 draft, sixth round
- SCH T25U25: No. 13/
Matt Iacopelli, F
- Acquired: 2014 draft, third round
- SCH T25U25: No. 17/
Luke Johnson, F
- Acquired: 2013 draft, fifth round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
David Kampf, F
- Acquired: 2017 free agent signing
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Graham Knott, F
- Acquired: 2015 draft, second round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Anthony Louis, F
- Acquired: 2013 draft, sixth round
- SCH T25U25: No. 23/
Nathan Noel, F
- Acquired: 2016 draft, fourth round
- SCH T25U25: No. 24/
Robin Norell, D
- Acquired: 2013 draft, fourth round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Ville Pokka, D
- Acquired: 2015 Nick Leddy trade with Islanders
- SCH T25U25: No. 15/
Robin Press, D
- Acquired: 2013 draft, seventh round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Darren Raddysh, D
- Acquired: 2017 undrafted free agent signing
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Luc Snuggerud, D
- Acquired: 2014 draft, fifth round
- SCH T25U25: No. 21/
Viktor Svedberg, D
- Acquired: 2013 undrafted free agent signing
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Matt Tomkins, G
- Acquired: 2012 draft, seventh round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
NCAA
When the final horn sounded on the 2016-17 NCAA season, one Chicago prospect was left standing – Blake Hillman. The defenseman won the NCAA title with Denver in his sophomore season and will be joined by 2017 second-rounder Ian Mitchell on the Pioneers’ blue line. Sophomore Chad Krys (Boston) and junior Dennis Gilbert (Notre Dame) will be two other defenseman to watch.
Can you say Hobey Baker finalist? That’s the thought on forward Dylan Sikura, who scored 57 points in 38 games as a junior at Northeastern. Fredrik Olofsson, a Chicago Steel alum, will have an adjustment period in Omaha with a new head coach in Mike Gabinet, who takes over for Dean Blais. Evan Barratt will also be a player to watch at Penn State after a strong season with the United States development program.
Evan Barratt, F (Big Ten, Penn State)
- Acquired: 2017 draft
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Josh Ess, F (Big Ten, Wisconsin)
- Acquired: 2017 draft, seventh round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Parker Foo, F (ECAC, Union College)
- Acquired: 2017 draft, fifth round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Dennis Gilbert, D (Big Ten, Notre Dame)
- Acquired: 2015 draft, third round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Blake Hillman, D (NCHC, Denver)
- Acquired: 2016 draft, sixth round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Chad Krys, D (Hockey East, Boston)
- Acquired: 2016 draft, second round
- SCH T25U25: No. 11/
Ian Mitchell, D (NCHC, Denver)
- Acquired: 2017 draft, second round
- SCH T25U25: No. 16/
Fredrik Olofsson, F (NCHC, Nebraska-Omaha)
- Acquired: 2014 draft, fourth round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Beau Starrett, F (ECAC, Cornell)
- Acquired: 2014 draft, third round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Jack Ramsey, D (Big Ten, Minnesota)
- Acquired: 2014 draft, seventh round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Jake Ryczek, D (Hockey East, Providence)
- Acquired: 2016 draft, seventh round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Ryan Shea, D (Hockey East, Northeastern)
- Acquired: 2015 draft, fourth round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Dylan Sikura, F (Hockey East, Northeastern)
- Acquired: 2014 draft, sixth round
- SCH T25U25: No. 8/
North America
Chicago only has two prospects in North America’s junior leagues with defenseman Henri Jokiharju returning to Portland of the WHL and goaltender Wouter Peeters making the leap from the Jokerit’s U20 team in Finland to the USHL with Youngstown. Both are believed to be among the top prospects at their respective positions within the organization.
Henri Jokiharju, D (Portland, WHL)
- Acquired: 2017 draft, first round
- SCH T25U25: No. 7/
Wouter Peeters, G (Youngstown, USHL)
- Acquired: 2016 draft, third round
- SCH T25U25: No. 22/
Europe/KHL
Chicago has invested more in prospects playing in North America than it has overseas, so the prospect pool is a little bleak on the other side of the world. Defenseman Lucas Carlsson and forward Maxim Shalunov are the top players to watch. Russian forwards Andrei Altybarmakyan and Artur Kayumov are also making the jump from juniors to the KHL, and Swedish forward Tim Soderlund earned raved reviews this summer during Chicago’s prospect camp.
Andrei Altybarmakyan, F (SKA, KHL)
- Acquired: 2017 draft, third round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Lucas Carlsson, D (Brynäs IF, SHL)
- Acquired: 2016 draft, fourth round
- SCH T25U25: No. 9/
John Dahlström, F (Almtuna IS, Allsvenskan)
- Acquired: 2015 draft, seventh round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Mathias From, F (Rögle BK, SHL)
- Acquired: 2016 draft, fifth round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Jakub Galvas, D (HC Olomouc, Czech)
- Acquired: 2017 draft, fifth round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Artur Kayumov, F (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, KHL)
- Acquired: 2016 draft, second round
- SCH T25U25: No. 25/
Roope Laavainen, D (HPK, Liiga)
- Acquired: 2017 draft, fourth round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Ivan Nalimov, G (Admiral Vladivostok, KHL)
- Acquired: 2014 draft, sixth round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Maxim Shalunov, F (CSKA, KHL)
- Acquired: 2011 draft, fourth round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Andreas Söderberg, D (IK Pantern, Allsvenskan)
- Acquired: 2014 draft, fifth round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/
Tim Soderlund, F (Skelleftea AIK, SHL)
- Acquired: 2017 draft, fourth round
- SCH T25U25: No. 18/
Joni Tuulola, D (Sport, Liiga)
- Acquired: 2015 draft, sixth round
- SCH T25U25: Unranked/