Chicago Blackhawks: Recent history of 17th overall pick

The Chicago Blackhawks are going to make the 17th pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.

The Chicago Blackhawks won the play-in series against the Edmonton Oilers but then failed to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round which locked them into the seventeenth overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. It is a pick that will take some good scouting to hit on but there have been some incredible players to come from that pick in recent NHL history. Since 2000, there have been some star players drafted at pick 17 and the Hawks would really benefit if they found one for themselves.

Last season, the Vegas Golden Knights selected Peyton Krebs with the 17th overall pick. It is still early and he hasn’t come up yet but Vegas is one of those teams that you have to trust at this point. In 2018, the New Jersey Devils selected Ty Smith with the 17th overall pick and he has been one of the best defenseman in the WHL ever since.

In 2015, the Winnipeg Jets drafted Kyle Connor with the 17th overall pick and he has developed into one of the best players in the NHL. Five years after he was drafted, Connor has 105 goals and 96 assists for 201 points in 249 games. In 2012, the San Jose Sharks drafted Tomas Hertl who has become one of the best players on the team. He is a great power forward who can do it all for them and has proven it in the regular season and the playoffs.

Jake Gardiner  is an example of a defenseman that can be taken with a pick like that. There are going to be all sorts of kids who play that position available this year at 17 and we all know the Hawks need help in that area. If they can find themselveas a guy like that, it wouldn’t be a terrible direction to go.

One of, if not the player ever taken with that pick is Zach Parise by the New Jersey Devils. He was taken in that spot at pick 17 in 2003 which went on to become the greatest draft class in the history of the National Hockey League. Parise played for the Devils for seven seasons where he accumulated 194 goals and 216 assists for 410 points in 502 games. There was a season in there where he had 45 goals and 49 assists for 94 points. He has since played for the Minnesota Wild and has over 1000 games played in the NHL.

There are different levels of success throughout these names listed but if the Hawks can get a successful player at pick 17 in 2020 they will be satisfied.  This is projected to be a great draft so it will be exciting to see who may fall to them and how it goes for everyone involved.