FEATURE: Blackhawks cross finish line of draft journey

Imagine the moment a team makes their final selection at the draft.
The scouting staff shakes hands, there are smiles all around the table. It feels like they've crossed a finish line in a race that's taken quite a long time to run. And in a lot of ways, they have.
"Today is sort of the culmination of a long process," said Chicago Blackhawks Senior Vice President and General Manager Stan Bowman, speaking shortly after a lengthy second day at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

"You spend a lot of time (on the draft) and we got guys we really liked," said Bowman. "You're trying to find players you're excited about, and we were able to do that (Friday) and (Saturday). I'm very happy with where we ended up."
"Feeling good," added Vice President of Amateur Scouting Mark Kelley in agreement. "Good day (Friday), followed up with a real good day (Saturday)."

THE UNCERTAINTY
This draft played out well in the minds of the Blackhawks brass, despite some uncertainty early.
Aside from the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes - who were locked on to Rasmus Dahlin and Andrei Svechnikov with the opening two picks - the top of round one was anybody's guess.
"I think everyone knew who was going three through 12, but everyone had it in a different order," said Kelley.
The name to watch became Filip Zadina.
When the talented Czech-born player wasn't the next off the board at three, that's where the fun really began. Jesperi Kotkaniemi went third to Montreal in an expected, although still interesting move. Then Brady Tkachuk, son of Keith, was chosen by Ottawa. Perhaps the biggest surprise was Barrett Hayton, who went next to Arizona. The talented center rose up draft charts to break into the top five, where he was rarely mocked heading into the season. And Zadina, once considered the third-best prospect, was still waiting.

Five picks in, four forwards were gone and only one defenseman.
With such high-end blueline talent still on the board, the Blackhawks were poised to get one of the best at eight. The question was, who would it be?
At six, Zadina found a home with Detroit following his very brief slide, while another forward was crossed off the list.
At seven, Vancouver ended the run on forwards, selecting Quinn Hughes.
The Blackhawks knew what they had to do next with their best player available being Swedish defenseman Adam Boqvist.
EIGHT IS GREAT
Chicago's draft contingent marched to the stage to make their pick, thus inching one mile-marker closer to the finish line.
"Just his ability to impact the game," Kelley said of what made Boqvist the attractive pick. "He's so creative, makes fast plays."
Ranked second among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting, Boqvist has always been considered near the top of the class in terms of talent and ability.

Albeit on the smaller side, Boqvist has a dynamic ability to move the puck quickly and efficiently, while fueling offensive production for his team.
"Boqvist is a finesse defenseman who is very skilled, possesses excellent vision and tons of talent. He's fun to watch and full of surprises on the ice," said European Scouting Services Goran Stubb.
The Swede has often times been compared to Ottawa captain and Norris Trophy-caliber defenseman Erik Karlsson.
"When you watch him play he's got that style to his game," said Bowman. "I think you can see he sort of patterns his game after Erik and he's honest too. He says, 'I know I'm not Erik Karlsson and I want to be my own player, but I like the way that he plays.' Very likeable guy, upbeat kid, loves to play the game. He's got a passion for hockey, and that's something that's always important because they're going to have to work their way up. Nothing comes easy for players, even guys drafted this high, but you can tell he has the desire to keep getting better and to make it to the NHL."
Corey Pronman of The Athletic had Boqvist ranked seventh on his list of prospects.

"His hands and IQ all get very high grades," said Pronman. "He's very skilled and creative with the puck, on top of displaying top-level, if not elite, vision."
One of Boqvist's greatest assets is his age. At only 17, and displaying the kind of natural talent he does, there are many tools to work with and develop - and plenty of time to do so.
BULLISH FOR BEAUDIN
With their second pick in the first round coming up, the Blackhawks reset and waited until number 27 rolled around. When it did, they were very happy to see Drummondville defenseman Nicolas Beaudin still available.
So what made him the logical pick?
"His instincts," Kelley said. "He's really good with the puck. His positioning and his ability to move the puck and his transition game are good."
Tweet from @coreypronman: Nicolas Beaudin pic.twitter.com/vmBdbgDRFc
Pronman's assessment includes more praise for the mental side of Beaudin's game.
"The first thing that stands out about Beaudin is his hockey sense. He's a very composed and aware defender with the puck, who makes plays with pace and displays quality vision."
As another smaller defender, standing at 5'11" and 172 pounds, Beaudin makes up for it with his style of play.
In fact, Bowman described both Boqvist and Beaudin as possessing the skills to play the "modern NHL game."
Two first-round picks for the Blackhawks, two blueliners selected - not by design, but rather opportunity.
"Coming into the draft, we're just looking for the best valued players we had, guys we had ranked the highest in those spots," said Bowman. "It just so happened that they were both defensemen, which is great because it's a very important position.

"I think the highest valued assets - calling around this week about potential trades and looking for players - they're the hardest thing to find. We didn't draft them just because they're defensemen, but we like both of their styles of play and their skill set."
As the Blackhawks left the arena and travelled back to their hotel basecamp Friday evening, they discussed the day and all that they wished to accomplish in the morning. They reviewed the remaining players and headed into Saturday morning with a plan.
LONG TIME COMING
Bowman said Friday night the team would at least explore the possibility of moving up, as they were without a second-round pick - having packaged it with Phillip Danault and given it to Montreal in exchange for Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann back in February of 2016.
With two third-round picks and six total selections remaining in this year's draft, the Blackhawks certainly had the ammunition should they have chosen to move up, but inevitably they chose to wait things out.
In the third round, one name was circled for the Blackhawks at 69th overall, and that was Jake Wise.
"He's just a really smart, two-way centerman," said Kelley.
Wise is a prospect who is the perfect example of how the draft process is a marathon, not a sprint. The Blackhawks interest in Wise dates back to last summer, with a profile on the center being built long before that.

Doneghey and Wise are both from Massachusetts. When Wise was as young as 14, his name was known around the state. As he became an elite high school player, the recognition grew. When he committed to Boston University at a young age, it grew some more.
"Being in the hockey world you get wind of that pretty quick," said Doneghey.
The scout says he knew Wise's character checked out from mutual friends and acquaintances. When they finally met last summer, they hit it off.
From then on the Blackhawks kept tabs on the player.
"He had a great start to the season and then he missed some time," said Kelley.
A collarbone injury derailed a promising season. Doneghey says that had he not missed time and slipped out of the spotlight, Wise might have heard his name called day one of draft weekend.
"This was a kid, that if he didn't get hurt, he's probably a first round pick. He was that highly regarded," Doneghey said.
Wise's bounce back from injury was not lost on the Blackhawks brass, who had texted him words of encouragement while the center sat out games.

"It was ironic that when he came back, it was the same time Jack Hughes (a 2019 top draft-eligible prospect) joined the team and all of the sudden they had a number one and number two center and the team really took off," said Kelley.
"He's a strong, 200-foot player," added Doneghey. "He's really good on faceoffs. He's always on the right side of the puck offensively and defensively. You can put him in any situation with power play, penalty kill or even strength and he's going to excel. He just thinks the game really fast."
With support and in the right situation, Wise came alive. He finished 2017-18 with 43 points (11G, 32A) in 38 games for the U.S. National Under-18 Team. With all the time spent on scouting Wise and the relationships formed, it's no surprise the young man's smile could be seen from space on draft day.
"I don't know why, but I always had a gut feeling I'd end up in Chicago for whatever reason," he said. "They were the first team I ever talked to last summer. Since then, I really got close to Mike Doneghey. We texted a lot. He helped me out with my collarbone (injury), we talked about that. I just always thought for some reason I'd go there and I couldn't be happier."
Wise is a prospect with a lot to like about his two-way play, and the Blackhawks feel he is the perfect complementary piece to pair with other high-end skill.
MOVING ON UP
Originally saddled with the 87th pick as their next selection, the Blackhawks could not wait to see if their targeted player would be around then. Instead, they packaged that pick with the 142nd to move up to 74 and take right winger Niklas Nordgren.
For the most part, the Blackhawks were willing to see how things fell to them this weekend. But Nordgren's offensive talent was too good to pass up, making his selection the lone exception.
"I think the one time we moved up it was for the winger, Nordgren, who is a great goal scorer," said Bowman. "With the other picks, (it was) just the way it fell."

Nordgren's skill was on full display at the U-18 World Championship, where the Blackhawks, along with the rest of the hockey world, saw the small - but skilled - winger score the game-winning, gold-medal clinching goal for Finland. Nordgren, who says he likes to "score goals" when asked where his offensive instinct comes from, tucked in eight of them at the tournament.
"He has great instincts around the net," said Kelley. "He has a really good stick in traffic. I think if you look at him and track his goals, they're goal-scorer's goals. He gets in the dirt, he's not afraid and he's just got a really great release."
Although Nordgren tabs Ovechkin as his inspiration, you can think of him as more of an Alex DeBrincat type. He may be small in stature, but he has a nose for the net.
"His vision and puck skills are both great, with the ability to be a primary creator of offense and excel on the man advantage," said Pronman of the Finn.
With four selections in the books for Chicago, a theme began to emerge. The club was focused on skill over size.

CHANGE OF PHILOSOPHY
The old mandate when teams entered NHL Draft weekend was to come out of it with size. As the league continues to get faster, and as high skill at high speeds is at a premium, teams have shifted that philosophy.
Smaller players have a place in this league, and that place is continuing to gain stature.
"If you look around the league, the way it was probably 10 years ago is different," said Bowman. "I think there were a lot more bigger players drafted. Now it's more about the speed, skill, quickness, playmaking and puck skills. It's a generalization, but generally smaller players tend to have the better skills. You can't have all of one thing, but I think the league is obviously trending that way and we don't have an aversion to that, by any means."
It's not that the Blackhawks went into the weekend thinking small - quite the opposite as aspirations are big - but they came out of the draft with a handful of players who are on the smaller side, including two whom they put an emphasis on acquiring: Boqvist, who went top 10, and Nordgren, whom they traded up for.
When scouting defensemen, the size and physicality took a back seat this year to skill and finesse.
Tweet from @coreypronman: CHI fans watch this pass from Adam Boqvist pic.twitter.com/0Q3wZ8gnjk
"The philosophy I think has changed… defensemen have to get back quick and have to move the puck quick. It's really a product of the game," said Kelley, speaking specifically of Boqvist, who stands at a mere 6'0" and 165 pounds, according to Central Scouting - a reminder that Karlsson himself was 5'11" and 165 in his draft year.
"The physicality is always nice but the game is getting so fast that sometimes that physicality is not there," said Kelley. "There are six defensemen, so you can still have physicality back there. Somebody has to be able to move the puck, somebody can be physical."
As for Nordgren, his skill in tight spaces and knack for scoring outweighs any size concerns for the 5'9" forward.
MID-ROUND MIDDLE MEN
The mid-to-late rounds are where scouts make their mark.
As the draft rolls along and the rounds advance, a team's scouting department has to find hidden gems. The teams who can find contributors in the later rounds are often those who consistently compete. And teams that can draft center talent are even better off.
Chicago would use their fourth -and fifth-round picks on PWP: pivots with potential.
"We didn't want to take a center just because he was a center," explained Bowman.
"It's hard to trade for centermen and defensemen. You have to draft them, you have to develop them. It takes time, but if you don't start the process you're never going to have them. We ended up with a number of centers today…"
With their lone selection in the fourth round, 120th overall, the club took a swing on 6'0" center Philipp Kurashev.
"He's an interesting one," said Kelley. "He's of Russian parents, grew up in Switzerland, his dad played in Switzerland, and then he's come over and played the last year in Quebec. Really smart, skilled centerman. He's also really strong on his skates."
Tweet from @Jerome_Berube: Highest player left on our boad from the QMJHL Philipp Kurashev goes to Chicago at 120. Good size, skating and shooting ability. Still has not take the next step offensively that we expected this past season. Will be back with the Remparts for his 3rd season in the Q next year.
Draft analysts like Kurashev's combination of skill and intelligence, and Blackhawks scouts liked the year he had in 2017-18.
Kurashev recorded 60 points (19G, 41A) in 59 games for the Remparts, but the staff expects even more progress from the forward heading into the future.
"We think he's better acclimated and expect him to have a real good year this year coming back," said Kelley.
The Blackhawks swapped a fifth-round pick in 2019 to move up in the same round this year for Mikael Hakkarainen at 139th overall. The Muskegon center in the USHL is committed to Providence College and what stood out the most on film and when scouting on location was his ability to stand out (stood out then stand out) regardless of his numbers on the box score.
"I think what attracted us to him was when you went and saw him play he got on the scoresheet, but even if he wasn't on the scoresheet you noticed him play," said Kelley. "He played hard. 200-foot (player)."
GOTTA GET A GOALIE
This is the part of the race where the runners grasp a cup of water and hardens themselves for the final push.
"We've thought about it other years too," Bowman said of drafting a goalie.
"I think sometimes when all the guys you like are unavailable at the places you're picking, you don't want to take a goalie just to take him, but Alexis is a guy we think has a lot of potential."
With just two picks left in their arsenal, Bowman and the Blackhawks pulled the trigger on goaltender Alexis Gravel at 162nd overall. Central Scouting's second ranked North American goalie is certainly worth time and investment, which the Blackhawks are willing to give.

"With goalies, you have to be patient with them because they take a little bit longer," Bowman said. "He's got a lot of ability and he's got the size to be an NHL goalie, I think that's part of it. We were happy he was there and we were able to get him."
Gravel is an interesting prospect. His father, Francois, represented France at the 1998 Winter Olympics and he was born in Germany then lived in Italy for a time as Francois continued his career overseas.
The younger Gravel has a unique opportunity next season to play for the Memorial Cup host team in Halifax of the QMJHL. The experience is expected to help his development.
"He's going to have a great situation," said Kelley. "They're going to host the Memorial Cup next year so we're expecting a big year out of him. He's been a good goaltender. This year, we saw him play some really good games. He's in a good spot. We like the opportunity for him."

CLOSING IT OUT
The final selection the Blackhawks would make on draft weekend was one based on raw talent. In the seventh round, 193rd overall, the club selected Josiah Slavin out of the USHL.
"We like the project there," said Kelley. "We think where he is on the curve, he's going to play another year and then go to Colorado College. We just like the whole project."
When you're picking late, that's what you're getting: a project. But Slavin is intriguing.

The 19-year-old forward is coming off a 23-goal season in the USHL and is committed to the NCAA route. That means he will get plenty of time to develop against older players, which can be beneficial to the prospect.
Shortly after the Blackhawks called Slavin's name, they closed up shop on their draft day duties.
Kelley joked about now having some off-time coming up, following development camp - a chance to catch his breath no doubt.
The mood among scouts and hockey operations leaving Dallas was light and cheerful, a deviation from the business-like manner in which they conducted themselves heading into the weekend.
"When you're (involved in the draft process) for two years and you keep talking about the names, it's almost like groundhog day with meeting after meeting after meeting," said Doneghey. "Then all of the sudden, it's bang, last pick, stop. You look at each other, congratulate each other, say 'good job' and then we're on to the next thing."

At the end of this year's draft, the Blackhawks had achieved a few things.
They added top-end defensive talents to their system, they brought in skill and two-way play up front - including at the all-important center position - and they added a goalie prospect to let percolate for a few years.
These picks won't begin to pay off for the big club for another few seasons, with the focus shifting from scouting these players to developing them.
The passing of the torch from one department to the other has begun, and with that the Blackhawks have crossed the finish line of one journey, while another is just getting started.
"I'm leaving Wednesday and I'm off to Buffalo for the USA 17 Camp for next year's draft and those players," said Doneghey. "Other guys are doing the same thing."
Once again, the starter pistol goes off.
Bang.