Confusing NHL U23 Roster Includes Fall Of Bedard, Strange Blackhawks Rankings

Things couldn’t get much worse for the Blackhawks in the NHL right now, as Chicago sits comfortably in last place in the entire league. But on the bright side, even the front office couldn’t care less. That’s because the Blackhawks’ strength clearly lies in the players still on the way—the current roster is full of placeholders who won’t be around in a few years. As a result, the eyes of many Chicago fans are on the players still to come and how they stack up against the rest of the league’s prospect pools.

With so much focus on the Blackhawks’ pipeline, it becomes more noticeable when the NHL media doesn’t give the group the credit it deserves. On Tuesday, Corey Pronman of the Athletic dropped a midseason update to his top NHL players and prospects under 23, and his ranking of the Blackhawks is…interesting.

3. Connor Bedard
4. Artyom Levshunov
5. Kevin Korchinski
6. Sam Rinzel
7. Roman Kantserov
8. Sacha Boisvert
9. Oliver Moore
10. Lukas Reichel
11. Colton Dach

One’s eyes immediately go to the ranking of Connor Bedard, who finds himself below both Macklin Celebrini and Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle. Stutzle certainly deserves his no. 2 place, after scoring 90 points in 2022-23 and 70 last season. But Bedard is more than three years younger and has just four fewer points this season after dropping 61 in 68 games a year ago.

The first thing I noticed though was a puzzling lack of an appearance from Frank Nazar. Sure, he hasn’t produced much offense in the NHL this year, scoring three points in 15 games. But he’s certainly proven he belongs in the league, enjoying a stellar AHL campaign before being called up (24 points in 21 games, Rockford’s All-Star). What is the reasoning there? Even if it’s because he hasn’t done much in the NHL, Lukas Reichel somehow made the list. Strange omission there.

Speaking of strange omissions, where is Nick Lardis? The Blackhawks’ 19-year-old has scored 62 points in 39 games in the OHL, and his 34 goals are good for second in the league. It’s not like his game is worse than what he shows on the stat sheet – he’s one of the purest scorers in Chicago’s prospect pool.

There is a lot to be excited about with several of these prospects and their pitches. I’d have Sam Rinzel a little higher – he could be the favorite for the NCAA’s Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college hockey. It’s also nice to see Boisvert and Moore out there, even though Moore is one of the more unique players in the game, scoring nearly a point per game. match in Minnesota (and is already a two-time gold medalist).

The Blackhawks weren’t completely dismissed. Levshunov as no. 22 was a bit of a surprise as it puts him one spot ahead of Brock Faber. He has struggled at times this season, but he is also only 19 years old and only stayed in the NCAA for one year. Pronman is clearly still high on him, and Levshunov is probably the second most valuable player in Chicago’s rebuild.