Nearly everyone in the Chicago Blackhawks’ 2013 draft class was on the ice during the organization’s recent prospect camp, hoping to make an impression for the upcoming NHL season.
The Blackhawks drafted eight players in 2013 and five of them now are under entry-level contracts. John Hayden, a third-round pick in 2013, would have made a sixth.
Hayden, a 21-year-old forward, was offered a pro contract by the Blackhawks this spring after his junior season at Yale University. He thought long and hard about it, but opted to return to Yale for his senior year.
As Hayden skated in the same group as the Blackhawks’ entry-level contract players at the prospect camp, he didn’t wonder ‘what if’ or whether he had made the wrong decision.