Development Camp Takeaways: Where Do the Hawks’ Top Prospects Stand?
There were a lot of storylines and a lot of unanswered questions coming into development camp this year, with a lot more riding on the answers than in years past. After five days of on-ice workouts, which questions have been answered, and which ones remain?
All eyes were on top prospects Kirby Dach, Adam Boqvist, and Alex Nylander among others, although there weren’t a ton of surprises throughout the week, the number one takeaway for me was that the prospect pipeline has been re-stocked, and there is a lot of reason for optimism among the fanbase!
Development camp should always be taken with a grain of salt, the week is mainly focused on skills and drills, which favors the players that are more skill-based and fighting for a bigger role in the NHL. The other obvious downfall of development camp is that there are no veterans involved, Alex Nylander was the most experienced player in this year’s group with a total of nineteen games of NHL experience.
The main goal of development camp is for players to get guidance from the NHL staff whether that is strength and conditioning, nutrition, mental skills, or on ice skills, Stan Bowman and Jeremy Colliton want to see which players show up to training camp in September better than they were in July.
Let’s take a look at what we have learned so far.
Adam Boqvist is legit
A lot of fans were upset when Chicago traded Henri Jokiharju for Alex Nylander, and I must admit I was one of them. Jokiharju was the closest to a sure thing among the Blackhawks’ “four horsemen” defensive prospects. After five days of development camp, Adam Boqvist is making a lot of fans feel a lot better about all of that.
We can talk about the offensive flair all we want, but the thing I am most excited about is Boqvist’s aggressive gap control, this is something I have talked about throughout his rookie season in the OHL and something I saw multiple times throughout camp this past week. Once an offensive player enters their offensive zone, defenders are taught to have a one stick gap between themselves and the offensive player, however, Boqvist has the skating and confidence to close that gap and force himself on the puck carrier before they can analyze the play and make the right decision. Here is a great example of that captured by Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago.
http://twitter.com/Acton_V2/status/1152264616191434752
Adam Boqvist looks bigger, stronger, and more confident this season, it would appear his time with Brian Campbell has paid major dividends. When the week was over, both Boqvist and Stan Bowman said that the 18 year old blueliner plans on turning pro this season whether that be in Rockford or Chicago. If Boqvist indeed ends up in Chicago, the Blackhawks could capitalize by trading Eric Gustafsson for another immediate impact forward, making this team extremely scary. Just for fun, let’s look at his best offensive play from Friday’s scrimmage as well, as if we weren’t already salivating over his 30 goal OHL performance as a rookie in North America.
Boqvist could stand to add a little bit more mass this off season but should push for a roster spot this fall.
Alex Nylander remains a mystery
Speaking of the Henri Jokiharju trade…
Alex Nylander was the only real surprise participant at camp this year, looking to address concerns about his consistency, effort, and pedigree. As you might be able to guess, all of those questions still remain, Nylander showed his elite skill, which is no surprise given the fact that mandrills are meant to show off raw skill. In the way of effort, it was a bit of a mixed bag, Nylander did have some jump in his step, but there were also times where he floated a bit on defense or in loose puck situations.
Nylander’s pace has been criticized in the past, the former eighth overall pick did look faster with the puck than without it, but definitely was not a world beater in this category. Overall, Nylander did stand out, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise as he has already played three seasons in the AHL, Nylander still brings a lot of skill to the table but we won’t really have a good idea of where he might land until the preseason.
Alex Nylander will get his shot at a top 6 role in Chicago, he has the skill and hockey sense to play with guys like Kane or Debrincat, and although I don’t think he will ever drive his own line I do think that Nylander could definitely benefit from the top end skill in Chicago much like Dylan Strome. I believe that Nylander will be a 40-50 point guy and brings the ability to play all three forward positions, this will definitely be a top storyline to watch in September.
Where Kirby Dach fits
It is no secret that Kirby Dach probably had the highest expectations going into the week, and with the exception of Boqvist, I don’t think there was anyone that outplayed him. The biggest question mark for the 6’4 center was his skating ability, many thought that he lacked high-end speed. While Dach isn’t the straight line blazer that Brandon Saad is, he has tremendous edges that help protect the puck and provide elite agility in the corners and on defense. Dach did show the straight-line speed at times, like the video below, at the end of development camp, the young centerman did say that his main focus for the rest of the summer is his speed.
Dach shows his two-way ability as well as the ability to chase down an opposing player, he had a similar play for his first goal in the scrimmage where he lifted the defender’s stick in the neutral zone and then protected the puck extremely well on his way to a highlight-reel goal.
I don’t think there is any doubt that Kirby Dach should be NHL ready by the start of training camp, and the exit of Artem Anisimov makes that all the more possible, the question really is if that is the best path for Dach’s development. If Stan Bowman and company really want to make a good run this year, the big, crafty 18 years old could be a great fit as a second-line winger or a third line scoring center.
The only thing that is even up for discussion for me is that his domination in the Friday scrimmage came in the 3 on 3 sessions for the most part. Although this isn’t too surprising that a player with such great vision would excel with the increase of open ice, it will be interesting to see how comfortable he is in the 5 on 5 games against other NHL veterans.
Beaudin and Vlasic
The two quietest members of the defensive prospects are 2018 1st round pick Nicolas Beaudin, and 2019 2nd round pick Alex Vlasic. The best way I have heard them described during development camp is that they were both very quiet and unnoticed in a good way, both players were sound defensively and moved the puck effectively on the offensive side of things.
Vlasic, at 6’6 is very noticeable due to his towering height, and the Blackhawks’ staff is extremely high on the young man destined for Boston University. I love Vlasic’s game, he is a good skater, extremely efficient, defensively sound, extremely smart, and even has some offensive upside. It sounds like he will spend two years at Boston U before he makes a decision if he will turn pro or not. Keep an eye out for Vlasic as he could be a big-time sleeper in the coming summers.
Beaudin will start the season in Rockford this year, and the offensively gifted defenseman out of the QMJHL has really rounded out his game to make him a candidate for an in-season call up to Chicago. Beaudin is the lone left-handed defenseman in the group that could make an immediate impact, it will be interesting to see how things play out, but the smooth-skating lefty could make an impact in the next 18 months.
One more year
It sounds like Ian Mitchell will be sticking to his guns and returning to Denver to captain the Pioneers for his junior season. Many fans have expressed concern that Mitchell will finish his four years at Denver and walk much like Jimmy Hayes did a few years back, Ian Mitchell assured fans that loyalty is important to him and that he will be coming to Chicago as soon as his junior season wraps up next spring.
Mitchell dominated prospect camp and looked like he could be a top 4 defenseman right now, which could explain why Henri Jokiharju became expendable. I would say he is a two-way defenseman that definitely leans a little more on his offensive game, but none the less could quarterback a second power-play unit at the NHL level.
In this video you can see Mitchell with an active stick and good positioning on several occasions, consistently blocking passes and transitioning well.
Evan Barratt had a massive season at Penn State in 2018-19, but after nursing injuries all year has decided to stay for his junior year as well. Barratt did not participate in on-ice drills last week but said that he will be ready to go for Penn State in the fall. Barratt was the NCAA’s leading scorer for much of the first half of the season and finished with 43 points in 35 games during his sophomore campaign, it is safe to say that Chicago will be keeping a close eye on the young forward, expecting him to sign in the spring as well.
[socialpoll id=”2559711″]
Other notes
The AHL group
MacKenzie Entwistle and Philipp Kurashev will headline the young prospects playing in Rockford this season along with Beaudin and potentially Boqvist. Entwistle could be a player that could fill a bottom 6 role for the Blackhawks as well, he knows his job and he embraces the art of winning faceoffs, killing penalties, and playing a well-rounded game. Kurashev plays more of a skilled game, which is why Chicago would rather him play big minutes in Rockford rather than an immediate bottom 6 role in Chicago, he has great playmaking ability and a heavy shot, I really think he will be a big player for Chicago in 2020-21.
Goalies
Alexis Gravel missed the first day of development camp but was as good as advertised from there on out, after a phenomenal season in juniors last year, it will be interesting to see how Chicago handles his development going forward. Zackarias Skog was an interesting invite after a surprising season for American International University the 24-year-old received an invite to camp where he really excelled. The only problem for him is that Chicago already has three goalies that are 24 years old and pushing for a professional position.
Other Names
There are obviously a ton of prospects in the system, and there are always surprise players that will develop at an older age and make an impact in the professional ranks.
Brandon Hagel was originally a draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres, but they let his rights go in the summer of 2018. Chicago scrambled to sign the 21-year-old before he put up 102 points for the Red Deer Rebels, followed by an 8 game stint with the Ice Hogs last season.
Jake Wise, a highly-skilled center for Boston University has been followed by injuries. He probably would have been a mid-first-round pick in 2018, but injuries and illness caused him to miss most of his season. Wise only played 12 games as a freshman last year, if he can get healthy, he could become a legitimate prospect in the years to come.
Dylan McLaughlin was a highly sought after free agent this summer after posting 40 points and being a Hobey Baker semi-finalist at Canisius College. He brings a lot of leadership to the table and should be a good addition to a young Rockford team, he could be a bit of a tweener but does offer another bottom 6 call up option for Chicago.
Tim Soderlund could not make it to prospect camp due to Visa issues this year, and I think this hurts his stock in Chicago a lot.
People were high on Soderlund after his draft year, comparing him a lot to Andrew Shaw, a feisty player with some offensive upside even though he might be undersized. Soderlund put up 29 points in the SHL last season and will start this year in Rockford, it will be a crowded group, but Soderlund does bring a lot to the table and should be fun to watch.
Featured Image: NBC Sports Tweets Property: Eric Lear and Charlie Roumeliotis
Discover more from Chicago Sports Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.