Blackhawks prospects roundup: Oliver Moore off to hot start in college career -

Connor Bedard will always make the Chicago Blackhawks’ 2023 NHL Draft memorable. But it’s Oliver Moore, the Blackhawks’ other first-round pick, who could transform the draft into a legendary one.

Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson didn’t hide his excitement over being able to draft Moore in June. Davidson had even attempted to move up to get him. Moore fell to the Blackhawks at No. 19.

In Moore, the Blackhawks believe they have another potential top-six forward for the future to go along with Bedard, Lukas Reichel and Frank Nazar, among others. Moore’s first stop before turning pro is the University of Minnesota. He joined the Gophers as a freshman this season. You never know how the transition to college will go even for the best of players, but Moore has quickly shown his speed can make him a dangerous college player.

Moore opened his college career with four assists during a two-game series against St. Thomas. He followed that up with a goal and assist in two games against North Dakota, another highly ranked team. In his first four games, he has one goal, five assists and 13 shots on goal for Minnesota, which was ranked No. 1 in the country in both polls as of Sunday.

The numbers are impressive, but let’s dive deeper into his game through clips from Friday’s game against North Dakota.

On this first play, you see Moore’s speed as he gets wide with the puck and beats North Dakota’s defender to create a scoring chance.

In this clip, he uses his skating ability to pressure North Dakota off the faceoff. He gets after all three players who touch the puck and eventually forces a turnover. He then turns defense into offense as he gets the puck in the neutral zone and makes a move on one defender at the blue line for the entry.

Moore’s first collegiate goal is one to remember for him as he sends in a great shot.

Moore nearly had his second goal later in the game. Again, his speed creates this chance.

Finally, this is an example of Moore playing offense and then defense. He helps create a great look in the offensive zone and then skates hard to break up a chance on the backcheck.

Here’s a roundup of other Blackhawks prospects:

• Moore isn’t the only Blackhawks prospect on Minnesota. Defenseman Sam Rinzel, a 2022 first-round pick, is also a freshman there. Rinzel has three assists and nine shots in his first three games.

• Minnesota Duluth junior forward Dominic James suffered a season-ending shoulder injury during a game on Oct. 13. The Blackhawks have projected the 21-year-old James to be a potential bottom-six forward and had been pleased with his development since drafting him in the sixth round in 2022. He’s still someone the Blackhawks could sign for next season.

• Rockford IceHogs defensemen Isaak Phillips, a 2020 fifth-round pick, and Nolan Allan, a 2021 first-round pick, have both been spending some time on the right side as left-handed shots early in the AHL season. The Blackhawks have Kevin Korchinski, Alex Vlasic and Wyatt Kaiser as young left-handed shots already in the NHL, so the right side is probably the path to the NHL for other defensemen. With Phillips, the Blackhawks have been emphasizing making better decisions with the puck. For example, in his opening shift against the Chicago Wolves on Saturday, he held onto the puck too long, forced a pass near his net and it turned into a Wolves’ goal. As for Allan, his retrievals have been an area of focus.

• Goalie Adam Gajan, a 2023 second-round pick, has stopped 236 of 259 shots for a .911 save percentage in eight games for the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL. He’s faced by far the most shots in the league. In his most impressive performance, he made 50 saves on 51 shots on Oct. 13.

• Goalie Drew Commesso, a 2020 second-round pick, has made two starts for the IceHogs so far. He had 34 saves on 36 shots in his debut and 25 saves on 29 shots on Saturday.

• Notre Dame senior forward Landon Slaggert, a 2020 third-round pick, is off to a much better offensive start than last season. He has scored three goals in his first five games. He had seven goals last season. The Blackhawks are still hopeful to sign Slaggert after the season. He was offered a contract following last season, but he wanted to return to Notre Dame to play with his younger brother.

• Forward Roman Kantserov, a 2023 second-round pick, is getting more comfortable in the KHL. He’s beginning to produce more for Metallurg and getting more consistent minutes. In his last 10 games, he has two goals and two assists and consistently averaged around 12 minutes per game. In his first 10 games, he had zero points and played less than nine minutes in four of those games.

• Forward Martin Misiak, a 2023 second-round pick, is another player beginning to find his groove. He has three goals and five assists in his last five games for the Erie Otters of the OHL. He had one goal and zero assists in his first five games.

• Michigan sophomore forward Frank Nazar, a 2022 first-round pick, has three goals and one assist through six games. He had five shots and was pointless in Michigan’s two-game series with Ohio State over the weekend.

• Forward Gavin Hayes, a 2022 third-round pick, is on a five-game points streak for the Flint Firebirds of the OHL. He has three goals and three assists in seven games this season.

• Forward Paul Ludwinski, a 2022 second-round pick, has two goals and four assists in eight games for the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL.

• Forward Nick Lardis, a 2023 third-round pick, has six goals and one assist in his first nine games for the Brantford Bulldogs of the OHL this season. He has scored in five of the games. He scored 37 goals in 69 games last season.

• Forward Ilya Safonov, a 2021 sixth-round pick, hasn’t had as much production as last season in the KHL, but he’s still proving to be a potential bottom-six NHL center. He has four goals and three assists in 20 games. He’s won 62.9 percent of his 275 faceoffs. He’s playing on the power play and penalty kill. His team, Ak Bars, is again one of the best teams in the KHL, too.

(Photo of Oliver Moore: Christopher Hanewinckel / USA Today)

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