Alex DeBrincat, Chicago Blackhawks (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Does anyone remember the 2016 draft for the Blackhawks? If you don’t, no problem, but it’s memorable because Chicago had no first-round pick that year. Under normal circumstances, a team with no pick in the first round is usually looking at a significant handicap for bringing new talent into the organization. At least this is the conventional wisdom, but it didn’t matter for Chicago that year.
That was the year the Chicago Blackhawks drafted Alex DeBrincat at #39, in the second round. Now, this isn’t to say that the experts are to be ignored entirely.