Blackhawks add 3 more first-round draft picks to continue playing numbers game

New York Times

4 hours ago

CHICAGO — ​​Kyle Davidson admitted he probably gave up more than the draft analytics suggest when he sent picks 34 and 62 to the Carolina Hurricanes for the No. 29 pick. But while Davidson is an analytically driven general manager, he's playing a far more basic game when it comes to the wild crapshoot that is the NHL draft.
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'The more you pick early in the NHL draft, you're more likely to succeed,' he said after taking Anton Frondell, Vaclav Nestrasil and Mason West in the first round on Friday night. 'We've taken that philosophy and tried to hit it with volume. But I also believe that some of these players are getting to the NHL. Some of them are on their path. I do believe from an objective assessment (with) their development so far, we are ahead of the odds in some way. I think we are beating the odds and getting a few more players out of the draft than the odds may dictate. Hopefully that continues.'
Davidson said he's willing to shrug off the draft analytics and 'stick my neck out and really jump at a guy.' West, a football and hockey standout at Edina High School in Minnesota, was that guy on Friday. As a high-schooler who won't even become a full-time hockey player until after his senior football season, West has a longer runway to the NHL than most. But then again, so did Sam Rinzel in 2022, when Davidson traded back into the first round to take that raw, rangy high-schooler from Minnesota.
Director of amateur scouting Mike Doneghey said the Blackhawks had some intel that West might not make it to No. 34, so Davidson pounced.
'I just really wanted to get back into the first round and take what I thought was a grand-slam hack,' Davidson said. 'I'm swinging for the fences and figured, why not? Let's go for a big one here. So that's kind of what I did.'
The Blackhawks thought the draft would play out as it did with Matthew Schaefer going first and Michael Misa second. Of course, they heard the same rumors about the San Jose Sharks taking Frondell second as everyone else. Whether that happened or not, the Blackhawks were certain they'd be drafting Frondell or Misa.
'Anton and Michael Misa are elite hockey players,' Doneghey said. 'They're going to be better than top-six forwards on any team, probably top-three forwards. Different players, but we were really comfortable knowing we were going to get one of them. We just kind of sat back.'
If you're wondering, Davidson also said he didn't receive any realistic offers for the third pick.
The question all along was whether the Blackhawks would seek someone who could step in as a winger beside Connor Bedard or Frank Nazar or they'd draft someone who might replace either one of them at center.
Davidson has said he still envisions Bedard and Nazar as centers. So where does that put Frondell? The Blackhawks don't seem too concerned.
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'Coach can figure that out,' Doneghey said. 'Kyle and Norm (Maciver) give me and my group traits on how they want to build the team and we go and get it. It's a bonus that guys can play multiple positions. (Frondell) doesn't consider himself a center or wing anyway. His comments at the combine, I said, are you a center or wing, and he said, 'Well, whatever Connor (Bedard) doesn't play, I'll play.' He's got a confidence about him.'
The assumption is Frondell, the No. 3 overall pick, will spend next season in the Swedish Hockey League at Djugården. But Frondell is holding out hope that he can start his career in Chicago a lot sooner.
'My goal is to play in the league,' he said. 'That's my dream, that's what I'm doing this every day for. If I get the chance to take a spot on the team, I'll do everything I can to do that, to play. If I'm not good enough, if I don't make it, I'll go back to Djugården.'
Davidson said there might be some SHL contract details to work out, but he expects Frondell to be able to participate in Blackhawks training camp. Where he goes from there will be up to him.
'I don't think we have any expectation one way or another,' Davidson said. 'The plan as we stand here today is he's playing in Djugården in the SHL next year, but we've got a lot of time to figure out the best path. I think it's a great path if that's the one that occurs. We'll figure that out.'
Frondell will be in the NHL sooner rather than later. With Nestrasil and West, the Blackhawks know they're dealing with more long-term projects.
The Blackhawks took Nestrasil, a 6-foot-6 forward, after seeing his progression this past year with Muskegon in the USHL. A lot of his production — 19 goals and 23 assists in 61 games — came later in the season. He'll attend the University of Massachusetts as a freshman next season.
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'He's a cerebral player,' Doneghey said. 'He does have to get stronger, but that will come with maturity. Like he's 6-5, 180-some pounds, it's still all coming together for him. But his brain and his hands, he's got the ability to play up the lineup.'
Like a lot of players the Blackhawks have drafted the last few years, Nestrasil's skating jumped out to them.
'We think he has the ability to be a four out of four mover in the NHL,' Doneghey said. 'He just needs the strength.'
West is the second dual-sport standout the Blackhawks have taken in the past two drafts, joining AJ Spellacy, who had an excellent training camp and preseason after going in the third round last year. The Blackhawks feel West's potential is so high because he hasn't even fully committed to hockey yet, and won't until after this football season. West will play hockey — and only hockey — at Michigan State starting in 2026-27.
'There's so much there, that when he commits to hockey — you saw that he was one of the highest risers in the rankings once he went to Fargo and started playing hockey more than training for football and stuff like that,' Doneghey said. 'I heard you guys mention AJ. He's a hell of an athlete, but he's just big. You saw him as a quarterback. But he brings that quarterback mentality to the ice, because when he's entering the zone, he's always scanning the zone and what plays to make. He's comfortable with contact. He doesn't shy away from that type of stuff.'
West had 27 goals and 22 assists in 31 games for Edina, then had a goal and eight assists in 10 games with Fargo of the USHL. But it's that football mentality that really separates him from the typical first-round pick.
'I think one of the cool things about me is when you see me play, you can really see the quarterback in me,' he said. 'I think I have really good sense and vision. I really don't cheat the game, I play the game the right way.
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'I really bring that power-forward presence, but I want to be more than that. I want to be a playmaker, and I want to score, I want to hit, I want to be a physical player on the ice. I want to be a unique player in the sense of trying to find it hard to compare guys to me.'
(Photo of Jeremy Roenick: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)