Chicago Blackhawks: Three defensemen they could draft in top-15

Jamie Drysdale

The Chicago Blackhawks may or may not pick in the top ten. They might need a decently high pick in order to have the option to select Jamie Drysdale. He is going to be the first defenseman selected unless some other team goes way off the board to take someone else over him. He may even be a top-five pick, depending on where the league goes with the forwards.

This is a very good player who currently plays for the Erie Otters of the Ontario League. That is the same junior team as Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome so he would have that in common with them. In his first season with Erie, he had seven goals and 33 assists for 40 points in 63 games. Those aren’t bad numbers for a kid playing his first season on a Major Junior blue line.

He followed it up this season with an even better year. Before the season was cut short, he had nine goals and 38 assists for 47 points in 49 games. In addition to his offensive numbers improving even further, there is another stat that stood out. Plus/minus isn’t a great stat in most cases but when it is changed as drastically as it had for Drysdale, it is notable.

He was minus-24 in his first year with Erie and was plus-nine this season. Improving by +33 is probably a sign that he was a more well-rounded defenseman, regardless of your opinion on plus/minus. Drysdale is a solid puck-moving defenseman that the Blackhawks would absolutely benefit from having in the mix.