Final Blackhawks Thoughts Before The 2026 NHL Draft Lottery – The Hockey Writers – Chicago Blackhawks

May 5 marks the NHL Draft Lottery, and it will be the fourth straight year the Chicago Blackhawks will be in it with top-four odds. All 16 teams that didn’t make the playoffs are in the lottery, but the Blackhawks are guaranteed a top-four pick in the NHL Draft because they finished second-worst in the league.

You never know which way the draft lottery will go. In the Blackhawks’ case, they have the second-best odds of winning the lottery (13.5%), behind only the Vancouver Canucks.

The Blackhawks are hoping to make the best of wherever they land because they are not thinking draft lottery next season. The players want to push to play meaningful games next season.

Here are some final thoughts before the lottery.

Blackhawks Can Bolster Talent Pool…

It seems like this draft lottery feels a lot like last year’s, where they aren’t in dire need, per se, of a certain position. When the Blackhawks landed Connor Bedard first overall in 2023, they desperately needed a franchise player after Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane left. When they drafted Artyom Levshunov second overall in 2024, they needed a right-handed defenseman with star potential. They checked two boxes with those picks.

So, when they drafted Anton Frondell third overall in 2025, they were able to go with their gut and pick the big, skilled center as they needed size down the middle.

This year is more or less the same. Even if they aren’t in a desperate situation at any position, they still could use help bolstering their overall talent.

There is talk of the Blackhawks needing to add a significant top-six player alongside Bedard. It’s speculated that this could be addressed this offseason via trade or free agency. But I don’t think the Blackhawks are going to pass on a prospect with that kind of impact if that is who lands in their lap.

Corey Pronman of The Athletic described the 2026 NHL Draft Class, saying, “While there’s no true game-changing No. 1 prospect in this class, leading the class as a whole to be about average, this draft does have a strong top 10 group of prospects, many of whom would have been in the mix to be the third or fourth pick in 2025, for example. Defensemen are the story of this year’s draft…” (from ‘2026 NHL Draft prospects: Chase Reid, Gavin McKenna and Keaton Verhoeff top Pronman’s ranking- Corey Pronman – 3/10/2026)

Forward Gavin McKenna seemed to be a lock for the first overall pick, even last year. But it looks like forward Ivar Stenberg is making a name for himself, too. NHL.com said in April, “Gavin McKenna of Penn State and Ivar Stenberg of Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League will be the first two players selected at the 2026 NHL Draft.”

So, if the Blackhawks get first or second overall, you are thinking those two names are ones to watch. But if they get third or fourth, maybe the Blackhawks could go defense, like with Chase Reid (right-shot, Soo Greyhounds) or Keaton Verhoeff (right shot, University of North Dakota). The Blackhawks have a lot of defensemen right now, many of them being top prospects like Sam Rinzel, Kevin Korchinski, and Levshunov. But it wouldn’t hurt to add another potential game-changer on the blue line.

In the long run, all teams definitely want options on offense, defense, and goaltending, since you never know how players will develop. As bright as things look for the Blackhawks’ outlook, there are still questions about how everything will ultimately come together.

…And Add To Their Possibilities

Currently, the Blackhawks have plenty of options with their prospects. They have the top-ranked prospect pool in the NHL, according to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (from ‘Chicago Blackhawks are No. 1 in Scott Wheeler’s 2026 NHL prospect pool rankings’ – The Athletic – 04/08/2026), and whoever they draft will add to that.

Furthermore, could they possibly consider trading the pick if they don’t get top-two because they have too much? They also have eight draft picks in the 2026 NHL Draft.

That’s an idea to be further pondered once they actually know where they’re picking.

But for now, there is a lot of excitement in the pick for the Blackhawks.

As general manager, Kyle Davidson said during exit interviews, in part, “…We’re going to get a really good player… you know, if we’re going to be in the top-four, and so we’ll figure out who those names are when we meet later in May after the lottery. But just my feeling right now is there’s going to be a really good player waiting for us 1-through-4. So, really excited about that.”

The Blackhawks have picked first, second, and third since 2023. They could win the first pick again and they have a lot of skill in their pipeline. So, wherever they pick will make for an interesting conversation.