Chicago Blackhawks NHL Draft: Top 6 options at no. 3 overall
The Chicago Blackhawks struck gold and moved up from 12 to 3 in the NHL Draft. They are going to get a good player, but which one?
The Chicago Blackhawks had an improbable move from the 12th spot in the 2019 NHL Draft to the 3rd spot. They won one of the three lottery positions that each non-playoff team had a chance to get. They moved up into third, while the New Jersey Devils moved from three to one and the New York Rangers moved from six to two. This is great news for the Blackhawks as they will get one of the three picks and the two top names in the draft will be headed to the Eastern Conference rather than any Western Conference foes.
In all likelihood, the Devils are going to select American center Jack Hughes with the number one overall pick. If that happens, the Rangers will almost certainly take Finnish right wing Kaapo Kakko. These are the top two players on every big board around and will certainly be in the NHL next season. That leaves some speculation for the third overall pick currently owned by the Chicago Blackhawks.
There is a possibility of a trade involving this pick, but for the sake of profiling each player that could be taken in this spot, we will assume that they will hang on to the pick. The Blackhawks have some players in their lineup that were third overall picks. The first one was Jonathan Toews at the 2006 NHL Draft. He turned out to be a pretty good player for the Chicago Blackhawks. You already know all of his career accolades and he is a surefire Hall of Fame player.
Next was a third overall pick that was selected by another franchise. Dylan Strome went third overall to the Arizona Coyotes in 2015. They traded him over to Chicago for center Nick Schmaltz during the 2018-19 season but he is now looking like he is reaching that third overall pick potential. The point is, a great player will be available in that spot.
The pick is less clear cut than the first two picks and this is a pretty deep draft. There are a few players that the Blackhawks will consider and they will be profiled right here. All of these guys are pretty different and whatever Stan Bowman sees as the best fit will ultimately force his decision but a case can be made for any of them. The only guaranteed scenario is that regardless of who they take, they will probably end up being very good.