2022 MOCK DRAFT: CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

This is a mock draft of the 2022 NHL draft with the Chicago, who have 8 picks in the draft, but none of the picks are in the first round and they don’t have a 4th or 4th round pick either.
It is highly possible for Chicago to trade some of their current roster players in order to add some picks at the draft.

Related: Detroit Red Wings

Before the 2022 Draft, a few trades are made

Chicago Blackhawks trade Jonathan Toews to the Boston Bruins for Charlie Coyle, Matt Grzelyck, Jack Studnicka, 1st round pick ’23.

The Boston Bruins are in dire need of a top 6 center, especially if Patrice Bergeron doesn’t return; this trade benefits both teams, because it gives Boston what they need, while at the same time giving Chicago what they need.

Alex DeBrincat is traded to the New Jersey Devils for 1st round pick ’22.

This is a rumored trade that has been floating around and it makes sense if Chicago were to trade DeBrincat.

The Blackhawks also trade Dylan Strome and Dominik Kubalik to the Seattle Kraken for Ryan Donato, 2nd round pick (49), and 2nd round pick (61).

The Kraken add two players in Dylan Strome and Dominik Kubalik, who can immediately help improve their team for Ryan Donato, two second-round picks.

Chicago Blackhawks acquire Alexandar Georgiev from New York Rangers for Mike Hardman, 2022 2nd round pick (57), and 2022 6th round pick (173).

The Blackhawks need a starting goalie for next year, so they roll the dice and trade for Alexandar Georgiev from the Rangers.

Before the 2022 Draft, the Chicago Blackhawks trade picks 38, 49, and 61 to the Buffalo Sabres for picks 28 and 74.

2022 Draft

2-Juraj Slafkovsky
28-Lian Bichsel
56-Matthew Poitras
74-Alexander Suzdalev
81-Pano Fimis
90-Aleksanteri Kasimaki
94-Jace Weir
167-Elias Pettersson

After trading Alex DeBrincat to the New Jersey Devils for the 2nd overall pick, the Chicago Blackhawks selected big Slovakian winger, Juraj Slafkovsky. Juraj Slafkovsky’s stock is rapidly rising now, so much so that he is changing Shane Wright to be the number 1 pick this year. What makes Slafkovsky special is his combination of size, skating ability, and scoring ability. At 6’4/225, he already has an NHL-ready frame and has quick feet and soft hands that you seldomly see from a player his size. At the Olympics, he led Slovakia to a bronze medal by scoring a tournament-leading 7 goals. His performance at the Olympics at 17 years old, suggests he has the potential to be the ultimate power forward at the NHL level and could be the best Slovakian winger to come into the NHL since Marian Gaborik.

The Blackhawks made a trade at the draft with Buffalo Sabres, which saw them land the 28th and 74th pick for the 38th, 49th and 61st pick in the 2022 Draft. With the 28th pick, Chicago selected Lian Bichsel, a towering 6’5 defenseman, who plays with great confidence, and plays with a physical edge to his game. He is also a physical defender and does not shy away from using his frame to his advantage, and makes use of his long reach very well. He needs to improve on his skating, puck movement, and defensive awareness, but once he gets fully adjusted to the NHL game, he will be a good top 4 defenseman. With the other pick that the Blackhawks received from the Sabres in the trade, Chicago drafted Alexander Suzdalev, a speedy winger, with elite playmaking abilities and vision. At 6’2, he has decent size and has the offensive potential of a first-round talent, however, his defensive play is lackluster, so he is going to need to improve a lot defensively if he is to be a top 6 forward at the NHL level. In between the Bichsel and Suzdalev picks, Chicago drafted Matthew Poitras, a skilled center, with high hockey IQ and vision, which allows his playmaking game to flourish. Poitras is also a good skater, as one of his best assets is his lateral agility and foot speed. Despite everything that he brings, he does have limitations, due to his lack of size and strength as well as his explosiveness to separate from back checkers and drive in the zone himself. Poitras could turn into a middle-six center in the NHL because of his hockey IQ and playmaking ability, but don’t expect him to be a top point-getter at the NHL level.

The Chicago Blackhawks drafted two other forwards in the draft: Niagara Icedogs Center, Pano Fimis, and HIFK Center, Aleksanteri Kasimaki. Despite the rough season, Niagara had last season, Pano Fimis managed to show flashes of brilliance during the course of the season, finishing the season with 14 goals and 44 points in 54 games. Fimis is still a developing center, but he has the potential to be one of the best players in the OHL for the next 1 to 2 seasons,
his offensive prowess combined with his high hockey IQ make him one of the most interesting days two players available. He has excellent positioning in his own zone and gets himself in good position in the offensive zone to get qualities shots on goal. Fimis has the potenital to be a 2nd line two-way center at the NHL level. Aleksanteri Kasimaki has many offensive tools at his disposal; gifted with soft hands and accurate wrist and backhand shots, he’s capable of handling pucks down low and fooling opposing defenders with his craftiness. Goaltenders have a hard time reading his stickhandling in high-danger areas, as he teases a wrist shot before switching gears and getting the puck to the back of his blade in the blink of an eye. Kaskimaki is still a few years away in terms of his development and will need to work on his defensive shortcomings before he can take the next big step, but he does have the potential to be a bottom 6 forward that chips in offensively.

The Blackhawks selected drafted two other defensemen besides Lian Bischel: Red Deer Rebels, Defensemen, Jace Weir, and Orebro defensemen Elias Petterson. Jace Weir is a big, right-shot defenseman, who plays a solid defensive game; the knock against him is his lack of foot speed as he doesn’t have the closing speed to recover against faster forwards if he is caught up the ice, but he is very sound in his own zone defensively and his hockey sense really shows in the defensive zone. Weir may not be the sexy pick nor will he ever be putting high offensive totals, but he should be a solid NHL defenseman, who is a regular contributor on the Penalty kill.
Elias Pettersson, not to be confused with the center with the Vancouver Canucks, is a Swedish defenseman, who plays a well-rounded two-way game. Pettersson played most of this season with the U20 team for Orebro, where he was excellent, scoring 10 goals and 18 points in 37 games, then in the playoffs, he played even better, tallying 10 points in 6 games. Pettersson has surprisingly good speed and skating for a player of his size which he mainly uses to his advantage on the many zone exits and entries that he made for his U20 team. Pettersson’s best offensive tool is his wrist shot which he is excellent at getting off while in motion, either while cutting toward the middle of the ice from the point or while skating along the blueline. Elias Pettersson could be one of the steals of the draft and has the potential to
be a top 4, two-way defenseman at the NHL level.

Chicago Blackhawks re-sign the following players:

Alexandar Georgiev-3yrs/3.5M per
Ryan Donato-1yr/3M
Kevin Lankinen-3yrs/2.75M per
Kirby Dach-2yrs/2M per
Philipp Kurashev-2yrs/1.7M per
Caleb Jones-2yrs/850 per

Chicago Blackhawks re-sign All Non-Roster RFAs

Chicago signs the following Free Agents:

Evan Rodrigues-1yr/3M
Marcus Johansson-1yr/1M

2022-23 Chicago Blackhawks

J.Slafkovsky-E.Rodrigues-P.Kane
R.Donato-K.Dach-T.Johnson
M.Johansson-C.Coyle-J.Studnicka
P.Kurashev-S.Lafferty-T.Raddysh

M.Grzelyck-S.Jones
J.McCabe-I.Mitchell
R.Stillman-C.Jones

A.Georgiev
K.Lankinen

Top Prospects:
F: L.Reichel, M.Poitras, A.Suzdalev, P.Fimis, A.Kasimaki, C.Dach,
D: L.Bichsel, A.Vlasic, A.Regula, E.Del Mastro, N.Allan, E.Pettersson, J.Weir
G: J.Stauber, A.Soderblom