Blackhawks Projected to Draft Winger: ‘He Is Kucherov to Me’

Getty Connor Bedard is selected by the Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks season is over. Actually, it’s been over for nearly a month now after they were the first team eliminated from playoff contention back on March 9. In reality, it’s been over for more than a year with the only silver lining of late being the franchise got to select rookie Connor Bedard with the No. 1 pick of the 2023 NHL draft.

So bad are the Blackhawks that, for the second consecutive season, they are firmly in the run (tank?) for the rights to draft the No. 1 prospect to come out of the 2024 draft class.

As things stand on March 30, and barring a miracle, Chicago (47 points in 73 games) will finish the season as the second-worst team in the NHL only ahead of the hapless San Jose Sharks (40 points in 72 games). According to Tankathon, that means the Blackhawks have 13.5% odds of drafting first next June while the Sharks have a much higher 25.5% probability of doing so.

If the balls bounce the way we expect them to, then the Blackhawks will step up to the podium to call a name in second place. If that’s the case, then Chicago might be about to draft the next superstar Russian winger.

TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button updated his prospect rankings on March 28. Macklin Celebrini is still the clear-cut favorite to hear his name first as the consensus best player in next June’s draft, but a new No. 2 player popped up in Button’s list: Ivan Demidov, who went from No. 5 to No. 2 in this latest update.

Blackhawks Could Draft the Next Nikita Kucherov

Demidov is currently playing in Russia’s junior league for SKA-1946 St. Petersburg. He has scored 23 goals and 60 points in 30 games in the MHL.

“[Demidov] is [Nikita] Kucherov to me,” Button commented about the player in his latest update. “He can pass, he can shoot. He’s brilliant.

“Like Kucherov, they [both] step out onto the ice and they’re immediately dangerous,” Button added. “The puck ends up on their stick and it’s like, buckle up, pay attention, you’re going for a ride.”

Button is not alone in his assessment of Demidov’s talents. In the latest mock draft released by Bleacher Report’s analyst Lyle Richardson on March 15, he projects Demidov to the Blackhawks as the No. 2 pick of the 2024 draft.

“[Chicago] lacks a skilled right winger among their top five prospects who could one day skate alongside [Bedard],” Richardson wrote. “They could look to Ivan Demidov from SKA-1946 Saint Petersburg of Russia’s Junior League (MHL) to address that need.”

Blackhawks Hope for a Brighter Future Led by Younger Crop of Players

Although the Blackhawks are going through one of the worst seasons in franchise history boasting a .322 points percentage through 73 games, it’s fair to assume their production will improve as their younger players grow within the NHL ranks.

The Blackhawks won three Stanley Cup Champions between 2010 and 2015 but have made the playoffs just once in the past seven seasons including this one, getting eliminated in the first round of the 2020 postseason.

In the last two years, Chicago has drafted players with the No. 7 and No. 1 draft picks. They chose defenseman Kevin Korchinski in 2022 and then lucked into franchise center Bedard last year following their lottery victory. Both have already made their debuts in the league and played 67 and 59 respectively scoring 56 and 13 points.

Just over two weeks ago, on March 12, Bedard had one of his best games of his rookie season adding another reason to end up winning the Calder Trophy award. Heavy’s Emma Lingan documented that historic outing by Bedard, who had a goal and four assists for his first 5-point game as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Anaheim Ducks, 7-2.