Who should the Chicago Blackhawks select 2nd overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft?

[thedarkstark]

Michkov "dropped" only like 3 spots. Reason 1 is because he was under contract for 3 years. Reason 2 is because he refused to interview with all but 2 teams.

Thats it. Anything beyond that is some story made up in your head.

Davidson even laughed and scoffed at the notion when mully on 670 the score asked a question about not taking a guy based on him being from Russia. NHL GMs who werent brainwashed by Mcarthyism arent passing on good players because of some fairy tale.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Michkov "dropped" only like 3 spots. Reason 1 is because he was under contract for 3 years. Reason 2 is because he refused to interview with all but 2 teams.

Thats it. Anything beyond that is some story made up in your head.

Davidson even laughed and scoffed at the notion when mully on 670 the score asked a question about not taking a guy based on him being from Russia. NHL GMs who werent brainwashed by Mcarthyism arent passing on good players because of some fairy tale.

Hawks have mostly taken shots on russian players in the 2nd round or later, we shall see if that continues this year, and historically none of them seem to come over or materialize...then factor in other bans mentioned in the thread, it has nothing to do with "mccarthyism", its a risk/reward proposition when you need to nail this pick and have a half dozen guys who could all get consideration...theres a huge difference between putting the russia stuff aside at pick 50 vs pick 2

 

[Hawkaholic]

Michkov "dropped" only like 3 spots. Reason 1 is because he was under contract for 3 years. Reason 2 is because he refused to interview with all but 2 teams.

You know whos not under contract? everyone but Russians in the KHL/MHL.
You know who can refuse to talk to teams because they know they have a league to play in that pays a lot? Russians.

So he dropped because he's Russian. Thanks for coming out.

Some teams will refuse to pick the Russian if all else is equal, we just dont know if thats Chicago or not, so its a factor in our thoughts.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

So he dropped because he's Russian. Thanks for coming out.

reason 1 KHL contract, reason 2 mccarthyism

You know whos not under contract? everyone but Russians in the KHL/MHL.
You know who can refuse to talk to teams because they know they have a league to play in that pays a lot? Russians.

So he dropped because he's Russian. Thanks for coming out.

You know which prospects have historically not signed when the Hawks asked them to...also Russians

 

[thedarkstark]

Hawks have mostly taken shots on russian players in the 2nd round or later, we shall see if that continues this year, and historically none of them seem to come over or materialize...then factor in other bans mentioned in the thread, it has nothing to do with "mccarthyism", its a risk/reward proposition when you need to nail this pick and have a half dozen guys who could all get consideration...theres a huge difference between putting the russia stuff aside at pick 50 vs pick 2

What risk? What high profile Russian players have refused to come over in the past 20 years? Kovalchuck left and went back to KHL after like 10 seasons in the NHL. Who else?

 

[Hawkaholic]

What risk? What high profile Russian players have refused to come over in the past 20 years? Kovalchuck left and went back to KHL after like 10 seasons in the NHL. Who else?

That's not the question. The question is, will some teams rather pick a different player than take that risk? And some teams would rather not wait 3-5 years to get control of that player. See Kaprizov.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

What risk? What high profile Russian players have refused to come over in the past 20 years? Kovalchuck left and went back to KHL after like 10 seasons in the NHL. Who else?

unless this kid is a tier better than the others I'm weighing that factor heavier against him, we don't have 3-5 years to wait potentially and deal with the well I'm just going to extend again nonsense, Bedard seems like the kind of guy to get real pissed being in the gutter year in and year out, probably why there was a sudden shift in speed up the process talk

 

[WarriorofTime]

Hawks have mostly taken shots on russian players in the 2nd round or later,

Ok? There's a limited number of Russians worth drafting high in general because it's just one geographic area which only produces so many players in general. May as well say the Hawks mostly only take shots at Swiss players in the 4th round or later. Not sure how many players from New Brunswick they've taken historically, I wouldn't say there's a "New Brunswick Factor".

we shall see if that continues this year, and historically none of them seem to come over or materialize...

..until they do and you get an Artemi Panarin out of it (well unless you give him away as your GM enters his stupid phase). You yourself said it was low picks, so them not materializing would be a factor of the fact that they were never that regarded to begin with.

then factor in other bans mentioned in the thread,

IIHF bans don't matter, the Hawks aren't drafting players for the sake of the World Juniors

it has nothing to do with "mccarthyism",

Prejudice though is definitely a factor

its a risk/reward proposition when you need to nail this pick and have a half dozen guys who could all get consideration...

yeah, that's not how it works, margins are tight, half a dozen guys won't end up all being roughly equal as players, that's why you take the one your scouts feel best about, regardless of what country were born in.

theres a huge difference between putting the russia stuff aside at pick 50 vs pick 2

The difference being the one at pick 2 is more likely to be an elite talent and won't be available at pick 50 (barring a player that drastically outperforms all expectations).

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

What is general feeling on Carter Yakemchuk range in this draft? Seems he is getting left out with talk of all the top D here

Feels like a more offensively gifted Seabrook would be his comp or am I way off?

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Ok? There's a limited number of Russians worth drafting high in general because it's just one geographic area which only produces so many players in general. May as well say the Hawks mostly only take shots at Swiss players in the 4th round or later. Not sure how many players from New Brunswick they've taken historically, I wouldn't say there's a "New Brunswick Factor".

..until they do and you get an Artemi Panarin out of it (well unless you give him away as your GM enters his stupid phase). You yourself said it was low picks, so them not materializing would be a factor of the fact that they were never that regarded to begin with.

IIHF bans don't matter, the Hawks aren't drafting players for the sake of the World Juniors

Prejudice though is definitely a factor

yeah, that's not how it works, margins are tight, half a dozen guys won't end up all being roughly equal as players, that's why you take the one your scouts feel best about, regardless of what country were born in.

The difference being the one at pick 2 is more likely to be an elite talent and won't be available at pick 50 (barring a player that drastically outperforms all expectations).

clearly thats how it works this draft otherwise we wouldn't be sitting here talking about half a dozen players...and how do IIHF bans not matter when you don't get to see an apples to apples comparison vs their draft class peers, there has already been discussion about the quality of competition in the MHL this year

 

[Pez68]

What risk? What high profile Russian players have refused to come over in the past 20 years? Kovalchuck left and went back to KHL after like 10 seasons in the NHL. Who else?

I wonder what changed in the last few years?

 

[WarriorofTime]

I wonder what changed in the last few years?

Nothing considering Russian players keep signing NHL deals since the last few years.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Nothing considering Russian players keep signing NHL deals since the last few years.

hopefully Kayumov comes over one day

 

[thedarkstark]

I wonder what changed in the last few years?

You do realize that the last 20 years includes "the last few years" right?? So who are these guys who refused to come over? Is the NHL sanctioning Russian players? Like i said this is all some fairy tale in peoples heads.

 

[ChicagoHockeyFan]

Another plus of Buium is he really shows up in big games. Huge goal in WJC gold medal game and was amazing in college hockey playoffs

 

[Toews2Bickell]

You do realize that the last 20 years includes "the last few years" right?? So who are these guys who refused to come over? Is the NHL sanctioning Russian players? Like i said this is all some fairy tale in peoples heads.

its not just a question of if but when...think people might take for granted that Bedard will just be cool with losing for an extended period, next thing you know his ELC is up and you've been a last place team for 3 years, will he be ok with that, if the gap isn't much or anything at all then why go down that road

 

[WarriorofTime]

hopefully Kayumov comes over one day

A marginal, at best, NHL talent that's likely no better than the random plugs in the lineup the last couple years?

The Russian proportion of NHL players was the highest in 2023-24 than it was in the last 20 years.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

A marginal, at best, NHL talent that's likely no better than the random plugs in the lineup the last couple years?

The Russian proportion of NHL players was the highest in 2023-24 than it was in the last 20 years.

at one point he was a pretty good player in the KHL and the Hawks wanted him to come over but he extended with his club...Shalunov did the same thing for years...is a top pick less likely to do it, yes, but again its a matter of when just as much if when you want to ice a competitive/playoff caliber team as soon as possible into Bedard's ELC...if Demidov is a complete tier above and its highly likely he comes over after a year then sure, its theres any chance it goes 2+ and he's not really that much different than some of the others then again just pass on the risk its 3-4 years

 

[thedarkstark]

its not just a question of if but when...

That has always been a factor with foreign players playing in mens leagues and its not specific to Russia.

And if we're talking Demidov he refused to sign an extensiom specifically because he wants to be in the NHL ASAP. So in his case 1 year. I dont know the details of Silayevs contract but it takes big defenseman 3-4 years to develop anyways so i'd be fine letting him stay in the KHL 3 more years.

 

[WarriorofTime]

its not just a question of if but when...think people might take for granted that Bedard will just be cool with losing for an extended period, next thing you know his ELC is up and you've been a last place team for 3 years, will he be ok with that, if the gap isn't much or anything at all then why go down that road

Just trade the pick then because a kid that hasn't even turned 19 yet might be impatient lol

 

[Pez68]

You do realize that the last 20 years includes "the last few years" right?? So who are these guys who refused to come over? Is the NHL sanctioning Russian players? Like i said this is all some fairy tale in peoples heads.

You're talking about just a single aspect of the Russian factor, and acting like that's it.

 

[Larmer83]

Another plus of Buium is he really shows up in big games. Huge goal in WJC gold medal game and was amazing in college hockey playoffs

In the NCAA finale, Buium's pairing was matched against the Smith, Perrault, and Leonard line at 5x5 pretty much until Denver took a 2-0 lead. Of course, that 2nd goal was a fantastic set-up by Buium.

 

[TLEH]

Buium also has that “it” factor that’s hard to quantify but you know it when you see it.

100%. If we took him I wouldn’t be upset. I prefer Demidov for the upside but I love Buium. He’s a bloody smile kinda guy. He’s a lunatic.

 

[Malaka]

if the ceiling for Lev is someone like Weeger why not just move down a few spots and take Tij or shop the pick for a young talented player like Brady Tkachuk to play with Bedard

I know BPA is always preferred over positional need but to put it in context


Defense
(L)
Korchinski
Vlasic
EDM
Allan
Kaiser
Phillips

(R)
Jones (Murphy)
Rinzel
Drew
Saarijarvi
Krutil

We couldn't get rid of Jones if we wanted to. Rinzel I pray pans out, but sincerely -- we have zero depth/prospects on the right side.

In hopeful retrospect, a D core of

Vlasic Rinzel
Korchinski Leshunov
Allan/EDM/Kaiser _____

will pay off in spades. You're talking about locking in a top 4 for 8+ years with an average height of 6'3" and are all fantastic skaters who can move the puck.

In our top 6/9, we have a lot of the puzzle filled. Bedard, Nazar, Moore fill out half of our top 2 lines; and from there 8+ kids to plug in between Dach Misiak Guttman Hayes Lardis Savoie Ludwinski Greene... Not to mention Reichel, or Kurashev who *could* be Bedard's kunitz, but regardless it's fair to expect only half of these players will actually pan out.

____

It's also fair to expect a bottom 5 pick and a shot at the lottery for multiple years past this draft... developing a defenseman is arguably the best choice right now, can find a couple wingers in the meantime while Leshunov cooks.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Tough to say if top line wing or a top RHD is a bigger need, as they're both such areas of need, lol.