Chicago Blackhawks Senior Vice President/General Manager Stan Bowman spoke shortly after the results of the NHL Draft Lottery and gave his thoughts on the team's placement at eighth overall.
"Well, we were hopeful to at least stay where we were or move up and we went down one spot, so not ideal but at least we didn't move down a couple more," he said. "We're optimistic. It's a good draft. We're confident we're going to get a good player at number eight. It wasn't our year for the lottery, but we'll still get a good player."
The Blackhawks haven't chosen in the top 10 in the draft since taking Patrick Kane first overall in 2007. This will be an interesting turn of events for the franchise, who will now go over their scouting reports on a different tier of first round prospects than they have in recent years.
"That's really exciting," said Bowman. "Our scouts work hard every year, but this year especially it's different because you're going to get a guy that's hopefully an elite player in the league. Watching the players, I've had a chance recently to see a number of these guys and there are some special players out there, not just the top couple that get a lot of attention but even the player we'll get at number eight should be a special player."
The Blackhawks currently hold eight picks in the draft, including two in the first round.
Click here to see a full list of picks.
BLOG: Bowman comments on lottery results
