The Chicago Blackhawks have made many high draft picks during Kyle Davidson’s tenure as general manager. He came in wanting to tear things down and force a proper rebuild that would lead to long-term success. That process involves a lot of losing to achieve that level of draft capital.
For this to be successful, you need to get good play out of those first-round picks. Connor Bedard is a star first overall pick, but they need guys like Anton Frondell, Frank Nazar, Sam Rinzel, Artyom Levshunov, and Kevin Korchinski, among others, to contribute.
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In addition to those high-end first-round prospects, there needs to be some luck within the draft process. Finding diamonds in the rough is a major key to a rebuild working. You saw it with the dynasty in the early 2010s, as plenty of late-round picks made their impact.
Right now, Nick Lardis is looking like one of those hits for Davidson. Lardis was selected with a third-round pick (67th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft. Since then, he has become one of Chicago’s most important pieces.
Lardis, a 21-year-old winger, is a star goal scorer in the making. He has one of the best shots in the entire organization, and the hockey IQ he possesses allows him to take full advantage of that gift.
Being a 3rd-round pick is nothing to sneeze at, but Lardis showed he probably should have been selected higher during the 2024-25 season. As a member of the Brantford Bulldogs of the OHL, Lardis scored a remarkable 71 goals in 65 games played.
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That’s a lot, even for major junior. By the end of that season, he was on the Hawks’ radar as a potential candidate to be on the team a year later. That was way ahead of schedule, as most would have thought he’d need a lot more marinating before becoming a full-time NHL player.
They did have Lardis start in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs in 2025-26, and he continued to fill the net. He scored 18 goals in 35 games played with Rockford in a league that is incredibly difficult to score. It was only a matter of time before he reached his dream of playing in the NHL.
When Connor Bedard went down with a shoulder injury in early December, Lardis was the player called up to play forward in his absence. When Bedard came back, he had another short stint in the AHL, but when he came back, he came back for good.
In 41 NHL games during the same season, he scored 10 goals. That’s a 20-goal pace over a full year’s slate of games. It is impressive when veterans can reach 20 goals in limited minutes, let alone a 20-year-old rookie who started in the minors. If he is already scoring at that pace now, what heights can he eventually reach?
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“I try to go game by game, week by week, summer by summer,” Lardis said about reaching certain goal-scoring totals. “This summer, I wanted to take big strides with my speed – show that more consistently. [I want to] put on more strength, win more battles, and improve my two-way game. I think if I can improve on that, every game, every practice, those totals will go up.”
Lardis is exactly right. If you play the game the right way in the NHL, certain players with certain gifts will have a much easier time finding ways to use those gifts.
In Monday’s preseason tilt against the Minnesota Wild, Lardis scored one of Chicago’s four goals. He scored it by coming out of the penalty box (he was serving the team’s too many men on the ice penalty), stripping a Minnesota player of the puck from behind, and creating a breakaway for himself.
Lardis was also tripped up on the breakaway, but he got up in stride and still found a way to fire it home. A delayed penalty was coming, but it wasn’t needed as a result of the goal.
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With it being a preseason game, it won’t count toward his record, but the work he put in when it comes to speed and strength was on display. If that’s the norm for him going forward, the goal totals will skyrocket. The fact that he’s just 21 and has plenty of time to continue improving is perfect for the Blackhawks.
“I definitely see a lot more confidence in Nick Lardis,” head coach Jeff Blashill said after the preseason game that Lardis scored in. “He’s skating better with and without the puck; he has good speed, and he can move and create some separation. He just seems a little bit stronger, a little bit more confident; he’s put himself in positions to score.”
Lardis was on pace for 20 last year, but it can’t be assumed until he actually does it. However, he may be able to go well past 20 if he stays healthy. He is taking it day by day, which is wise, but there is a lot of talent and a desire to get better, which can only lead to big totals for him.
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