The Chicago Blackhawks have the fourth overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. There are a lot of players for them to consider there, depending on what the three teams ahead of them (Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks, & Vancouver Canucks) decide to do.
If all of the players that the Blackhawks truly want within that top four are already off the board, there is a different direction they can take. Plenty of prospects with similar ceilings will be available in the back half of the top ten. The Blackhawks could gain another asset by trading down 5-8 slots.
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There will be a handful of players drafted later in the first round who end up being standouts. Are the Blackhawks willing to take a risk like that to gain in the long term? One of these five players may be worth the gamble:
Viggo Bjork
Viggo Bjork is one of those players who may end up being drafted higher than anyone thought, but he is not touted the way that his countryman, Ivar Stenberg, is. Perhaps he should be. At best, he’s still likely to be just the fourth or fifth forward selected, and there are a handful of defensemen to go in the top ten as well. If the Blackhawks wanted Bjork after seeing his SHL, World Junior, and World Championships performances, they probably can’t go down too far.
Ethan Belchetz
Ethan Belchetz had a strong point per game type of season with the Windsor Spitfires in 2025-26, which set him up to be a mid-first round pick in the NHL Draft. He will challenge himself by playing college hockey with Michigan State in 2026-27, which will be great for his development as a winger with aspirations of making it to the NHL. If Chicago moved back to draft a player like him, you’d think that they vision him playing wing alongside one of their current young centers.
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Oscar Hemming
Oscar Hemming is a highly skilled Finnish-born player who had an interesting season. He came over during the 2025-26 season to play 19 games with Boston College, and he’s set to play the full season there next year. Should the Blackhawks select a player like Hemming, they’d be getting a forward who may end up being a center one day. It’s always good to have forwards who can play multiple positions in the organization.
Wyatt Cullen
Wyatt Cullen is the son of former NHL player Matt Cullen, who had a long career playing big roles on good teams. The younger Wyatt may be even more skilled at this stage of the development. After playing a significant role in the United States National Team Development Program, Cullen is ready for the next stage. For him, it will be the University of Minnesota after being drafted somewhere in the middle of the NHL Draft’s first round. By adding him, the Blackhawks would continue their run of drafting fast players who can create offense at will with their speed.
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Tynan Lawrence
For a while, Tynan Lawrence of Boston University was in the conversation for the second overall pick. His stock has recently fallen just a little bit, but he will still be selected in the top-15. With the Blackhawks looking for more scoring down the middle, Lawrence is someone to think about if trading down is their mindset.
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