Blackhawks Prospects Make THN NCAA Rankings
On Thursday, Ryan Kennedy at The Hockey News published his list of the top 50 NCAA players for this season. And the Blackhawks, who have a deep pool of college players again this year, are well represented on the list.
Below are the four Hawks prospects who made Kennedy’s list. We added their draft info below Kennedy’s comments.
9. Nick Schmaltz, C, North Dakota – His brother Jordan is gone to the pros, but Chicago first-rounder Nick will keep the NoDak fans happy with his dazzling skills.
34. John Hayden, C, Yale – The big, powerful Chicago prospect plays an aggressive game and gets his points on the regular.
36. Matheson Iacopelli, LW, Western Michigan – A great scorer in the USHL thanks to his size and shot, the Chicago pick now moves on to Kalamazoo.
46. Dennis Gilbert, D, Notre Dame – Big, mobile and capable of putting up numbers from the blueline, Gilbert is a Chicago prospect coming into his freshman year.
- Schmaltz – 2014, 1st round (#20 overall)
- Hayden – 2013, 3rd round (#70)
- Iacopelli – 2014, 3rd round (#83)
- Gilbert – 2015, 3rd round (#91)
I do not expect Iacopelli o play all four years at Western Michigan. He’s an older freshman, had a down year last year, but has excellent size and grit. He’s one to watch.
disappointed Olofsson didn’t make his list – I like his game A LOT.
and my luck will be that we all fall in love w/ Gilbert at ND, he plays 4 years there, signs, skates a year in Rockford and….. gets traded
Good news regarding these draft picks will be interesting to follow them this year. Hayden has intrigued me because of his size. Hopefully the Hawks stay aggressive in their signings with the college prospects. Hopefully Gilbert develops need to restock our defense prospects.
Tab – good call.
I spoke with folks at UNO hockey this morning –
Olofsson is playing on the first line tonight along with Jake Guenzel and Austin Ortega.
First NCAA game, first line.
Tab, that is the first thing that came to mind after regarding Dennis Gilbert. Stephen Johns II.
Corrected sentence.
Tab, that is the first thing that came to mind regarding Dennis Gilbert. Stephen Johns II.
Hey Craig, are you Jaeckel’s Univ. of Nebraska-Omaha source? He posted literally the same information about Olofsson’s line mates after you did …
Hof – yes. I zipped him an e-mail this afternoon.