Chicago Blackhawks NHL Draft: Top 6 options at no. 3 overall
6. Alex Turcotte
If this draft feels very “American heavy”, that’s because it is. There is some great depth in this draft in general and that is in large part to how great USA Hockey has been at developing its young players. There are so many great players coming up from the United States and guys in recent years like Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, and Johnny Gaudreau have already made significant impacts in the NHL.
Alex Turcotte is one of the next big names to come out of the United States National Development Program. This guy is another one like Matthew Boldy, who played his age 17 season with the USNDP and has committed to play college hockey next season. He will spend his 2019-20 season playing for the Wisconson Badgers. He is also an Illinois native coming from Island Lake. If the Blackhawks feel this guy is their guy they might think it is the right move.
His NHL comparable is Zach Parise of the Minnesota Wild. Parise, like Turcotte, was a center in college playing for North Dakota. When he entered the NHL, the Devils converted him to a winger to suit his game more and it really worked out. Turcotte’s top attributes are his shot, hockey sense, and strength. The strength and hockey sense is what is the most comparable to Parise. Parise scores most of his goals from within five feet or less of the blue paint meaning he has the hands and strength in tight despite not being a big guy. The same could be said for Turcotte who is slightly taller at 5’11” and 185 pounds.
His protection of the puck when he has it while playing a strong two-way game is something that would really help improve the future of the Blackhawks top six forward group. The hockey IQ is there and will be needed in order to score big goals in the NHL using his brain and strength to get himself to the high scoring areas.
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No matter what, it looks like the Blackhawks are going to get a good player in this draft at third overall and this is a very deep draft overall. This is a very important summer for the Chicago Blackhawks and their organization. They are looking to retool this team quickly to possibly get it back into the playoffs and landing the third overall pick might help that cause.