Over the current Chicago Blackhawks rebuild, they have drafted and developed a lot of great young defensemen. This is an important position to have depth, and Kyle Davidson has hammered that point home with his decision-making.
Whether it’s Sam Rinzel, Artyom Levshunov, Ethan Del Mastro, Nolan Allan, Louis Crevier, or Wyatt Kaiser, amongst others, there are plenty of bright spots at this position within the organization.
For this reason, the Blackhawks aren’t in a bad spot because the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery didn’t go their way. The number one pick is likely going to be Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman from the Erie Otters.
Schaefer is an incredibly skilled player, but he only played in less than half of Erie’s season this past year due to injury. In 17 games, he had 7 goals and 15 assists for 22 points. It’s great production, it’s just unfortunate that he wasn’t able to play for his entire draft year. The sample size isn't enough to consider him a flawless prospect.
Will the New York Islanders look past that and still take him with the first overall pick? Likely. If they don’t, he surely won’t get past the San Jose Sharks, who need a high-end defensive prospect as bad as any team in the league.
One of the young forwards available is much better suited for the Blackhawks, who are lacking organizational depth up front. Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar could be stars, Oliver Moore is a great player, and more are coming. However, another star-level prospect like the first two forwards mentioned makes more sense for Chicago than another skilled defenseman.
Even if one of Michael Misa, Anton Frondell, James Hagens, Porter Martone, or Caleb Desnoyers is selected by Chicago, but they aren't as impactful as Schaefer, it could still be a win for the Blackhawks, who desperately need more scoring in the long term.
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