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With the 3rd Overall Pick the Blackhawks Select…

June 19, 2019, 6:38 AM ET [437 Comments]
Tyler Cameron
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT


It's the moment you've all been waiting for – my final selection for the Blackhawks 3rd overall pick.

If you haven't been following along or need a refresher of these guys, here are the 7 players I covered:

Alex Turcotte
Kirby Dach
Trevor Zegras
Cole Caufield
Bowen Byram
Vasili Podkolzin
Dylan Cozens


Thanks to Wiz from DraftSite.com, EliteProspects and others as they have helped me analyze and shed some light on these prospects.

I've said it once and I'll say it again - I am not a scout, I just play a part-time one on this blog.

With that being said, I've been following along closely, reading all of the mock drafts, listening to the podcasts and chatting to Wiz a lot. I would have to say it's been extremely difficult to land on one.

All I know is Chicago will be getting a hell of a player at #3.

Will they play next year? I wouldn't count on it. What I would count on is that Stan Bowman and Mark Kelley have their selection in mind and they are ready to rock for their 1st selection on Friday.

After that, in Mark (Kelley) we continue to trust for their remaining 5 picks: 43, 105, 123, 167, 194.

I have heard that as the Hawks continue to explore the trade route, they are looking to acquire a couple more draft picks if possible; even if for the mid-late rounds. This makes sense as the Hawks have been known to trade a couple picks to move up for a player they like.

Now, on to my selection and I want to preface this by saying that this is the pick that I, Tyler Cameron (aka Justin Lowe), would draft if I was the Blackhawks. This isn't to say that this is what I think that Hawks will do. That's a different story.

*drumroll*

With the 3rd selection in the 2019 entry draft, I would take Bowen Byram.

I believe he is the best player available (my poor scout take) and we all know the value of a top pairing defenceman in today's NHL.

You can rarely trade for them and when you do, you have to pay them a boatload of money (ie. Erik Karlsson and soon-to-be Jacob Trouba).

I don't worry that the Hawks have a plethora of really talented defenders coming up in the pipeline. I think some of them will grow together as pros and there will be others that are shipped out for… wait for it a centre or a winger or whatever they want. Dmen are the highest of currency in this new NHL.

The Hawks will be able to leverage this strength of having Byram, Beaudin, Boqvist, Mitchell, and Jokiharju in their system; especially with the latter 3 being the ever-so-premium right-handed D.

I don't believe Byram makes the NHL this year, however, it wouldn't be a shock if he did based on his skill, hockey IQ and physique.

Let's take another look at Byram with Wiz's thoughts from draftsite.com:

"All situation new age defender who can control the pace and tempo. Has high IQ for understanding the nuances of his position and executes them in a tough fashion. Has good top speed, stick and passing ability so he never is hesitating coming out of his end and continuing to lead the attack down deep in the attack zone. His strong backward skating ability lets him transition into his back pedal and stop/start in his gaps if he wants to stand an attacker up, and he is able to shadow attackers step for step. I keep reading that he is most certainly a notch ahead of last years Boqvist, Bouchard & Dobson, based on his tool box of skills. I question if he actually is their equal in terms of hockey IQ and on ice recognition, because those strengths are what allow these players to actually play to their strengths. Regardless, a team is going to get a nice chance at a top pair power play QB and maybe a top three push defender at the low end of expectations. The question is whether his skating ability helps cover up his lack of defensive recognition."


The Hawks posted Byram, Cozens, Dach, Turcotte and Zegras as profiles on their homepage. This shows that these are the 5 they are looking at, although, as I mentioned above, they surely already have their decision.

I chose Bryan because I truly believe that he has the highest ceiling. I was down to him, Turcotte and Cozens.

I honestly won't be upset if any of those 5 were selected. I know the Hawks put a ton of resources into making this selection and are taking the BPA and the player they see being a Blackhawk for the next 10-15 years.

There are rumors that the Hawks are leaning towards a centre and that wouldn't shock me either.

Now it's your turn to vote. Who do you want the Hawks to draft?

Who will the Chicago Blackhawks draft 3rd overall?
Alex Turcotte
Kirby Dach
Trevor Zegras
Cole Caufield
Bowen Byram
Vasili Podkolzin
Dylan Cozens


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In terms of rumors and other draft chatter, be sure to follow me on Twitter, @tylertyping for quick updates. I am also planning on continuing my "blog a day" pace until the weekend so I will be compiling everything in there as well.

See ya out there!

TC
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