Blackhawks’ College Prospects Make Top 100 List
On Thursday, Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News/Sports Illustrated published his list of the top 100 players to watch in college hockey for the coming season.
Blackhawks fans should be pleased with how he feels about some of the team’s recent draft choices playing in the NCAA this coming season.
Here are the prospects Kennedy ranked in his top 100 and what he had to say about them:
7. Alex Vlasic, D, Boston University
Drafted: 2nd round (#43) in 2019
Shoots: L
Comments: “One of my favorite players to watch last year, the big Vlasic has truly taken his offensive game to another level without sacrificing ‘D.'”
10. Drew Commesso, G, Boston University
Drafted: 2nd round (#46) in 2020
Comments: “If I’m Team USA, he’s my world junior goalie. Exciting to see what the promising netminder can do as a sophomore with the Terriers.”
18. Wyatt Kaiser, D, Minnesota-Duluth
Drafted: 3rd round (#81) in 2020
Shoots: L
Comments: “UMD has been a factory for blueliners lately and Kaiser is the latest star, bringing excellent skating to the back end.”
43. Landon Slaggert, LW, Notre Dame
Drafted: 3rd round (#79) in 2020
Shoots: L
Comments: “Tenacious and talented, Slaggert finished third in team scoring as a freshman, behind older bro Graham and the departed Alex Steeves.”
73. Dominic Basse, G, Colorado College
Drafted: 6th round (#167) in 2019
Comments: “Towering netminder did what he could for the Tigers as a freshman; they’ll need him to be big again this season.”
Cettainly promising comments, hopefully 2 or 3 of them make an impact at the Nhl level.
So … there was a game tonight. Wild beat the Hawks 3-2 in OT. Minny had most of their top players in the lineup and the Hawks did not have DCat, T.Johnson, Kane, Kubalik, Toews, Kurashev and S. Jones. Lankinen in net. C.Jones and Kalynuk didn’t play because they’re injured.
The Wild had the better of the play but Lankinen held the Hawks in and made it interesting. K.Dach, Hagel and Borgstrom played pretty well. I think Borgstrom has cemented a place on this team. Strome actually played pretty well too. Gaudette had some nice plays too but wasn’t as noticeable as in earlier games, Khaira also played pretty well and I’m pretty sure he’s going to be one of the 13/14 forwards on the roster.
I paid more attention to Galvas in this game and I think he’s ready to play in the NHL – more so than Mitchell who also played tonight.
EB pretty much agree with your recap. Looks like that all waiver exempt guys may be heading to Rfd. with Nylander if he clears waivers.
May see a situation similar to when Hossa went on ltir where they use Kalynuk on season opening ltir to exceed cap. According to puck pedia his prorated caphit is $425, 000 so assume that is amount they can use over cap with Kalynuk on soir. Would need another ltir, maybe C. Jones, like Tootoo and Rozival for Hossa to bridge gap. Possibly do a paper move with Kurashev or both if they want to keep 3 goalies. Habs with Prices unfortunate events likely watching waiver wire for a backup. Then Dhaw on ltir opening day to give room to operate roster going forward.
Three stars last night
1 – Lankinen – good to see him back in form
2 – Borgstrom – he looks like he’s going to contribute more than Strome – the Dach Hagel Borgstrom line seems to be the 3rd line as of now – noticed him and Dach were switchibg off on FOs
3 – Entwistle – another strong game – more so than Khaira – I wonder if he gets recalled right after Shaw goes on LTIR and plays ahead of either Carp or Khaira in the line up
Strome was Strome – good on PP ineffective in the D zone (his whole hockey life he’s probably never given much thought to how to best play defense) you can tell he’s trying harder which is good but makes you wonder where was this effort previously – I think unless he’s traded before season he starts as 13-14 FW – he’s a good depth piece at this point and if they keep him will be a good injury fill in
Also liked Galvas – had some misadventures defensively but agree with ER that he outplayed Mitchell and is younger – looked good on PP2
Murphy/McCabe looks like a thing
Just waiting for the regular season to start. Nothing to see here.
Slaggert is another Hagel type of player I think and iff he continue to perform he will be rewarded in 2-3 years ,,,
Vlasic will probably make it to NHL in 2-3 years but he need more time to develop.
Kaiser is a player that I don’t know at all is there somebody here who saw him play and can say what he saw about him ?
Hawks2010 watched some games Kaiser played in last season, not in person. He has the complete package at Ncaa level, without a doubt, really impressive to watch, how that translates to Nhl is hard to say but certainly lots of promise there, hopefully he keeps it going.