Chicago Blackhawks: Lukas Reichel is interesting at 17th overall

The Chicago Blackhawks took Lukas Reichel with the 17th overall pick in the 2020 Draft.

The Chicago Blackhawks started the 2019-20 season by playing a preseason game in Berlin, Germany. It ended with them slotted to make the 17th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft. Well, last night they made that pick and they chose Lukas Reichel who played on the team (Eisbaren Berlin) that they played in that aforementioned preseason game. It is strange how it worked out but they got to have an early look at the kid they would go on to draft in the first round.

As an 18-year-old playing for Eisbaren, he scored 12 goals and had 12 assists for 24 points in 42 games. Those numbers might not jump off the page at you but they are good numbers for a teenager in that league. The Hawks might have reached for him just slightly but there is no doubt that he is a promising young prospect. He has a great skating ability and should be able to use his tremendous vision to create for himself and teammates in the NHL.

The DEL is a very good league so his play there is notable. He was also very good at the U20 World Junior Classic. He played for Germany and had a fantastic tournament. That country is really coming up in hockey as he wasn’t even the first German taken off the board. Tim Stutzle of Germany was selected with the third overall pick in the draft by the Ottawa Senators. There had only been five first-round Germans ahead of this year so adding two more is huge.

As a left-wing, Reichel could be a big part of the Hawks going forward. He will join the young core of Alex DeBrincat, Kirby Dach, Adam Boqvist, and Ian Mitchell one day as they try to build beyond the core that has won multiple championships. He has the skills that should be able to help them on the power play and at five on five.

The plan is probably for him to one day play alongside Kirby Dach but it would be really cool to see him get at least one chance to play with Patrick Kane or Jonathan Toews. Even if it is just on the power play rather than even strength, it would be a lot of fun and probably be good for his development.

It is crazy that they drafted a kid who played on the team they went up against in the Global Series preseason game but that is the way things work out sometimes. Stan Bowman may or may not be allowed to retool this team further but allowing him to make this pick makes it seem like he will be around for at least a little bit longer. A lot of his job stability might rest on how some of these young picks develop. Lukas Reichel is now, hopefully, the next one on the list of young talent for this organization to develop.