Welcome to the 2014 edition of “Top Shelf Prospects”. As we go through the Summer of 2014 I will be featuring a team-by-team look at the top prospects in the NHL. I will go team by team through the NHL bringing you a look at each Teams Top Prospects. I will be following the order of the first round of the NHL draft (as if there were no traded draft picks) and you can find all the articles here. Since we had an extensive NHL Draft preview, I will not be reviewing the players who were drafted in the 2014 draft, as there have been no games since then, and my reports on them will not have changed. What I will be doing is linking you to those articles, as well as taking a look at prospects that were acquired before this year’s draft; their progress, and their chances of making the 2014-15 roster of the NHL team in question. I will also bring you one sleeper pick – a player who was either drafted in the 4th-round or later, or was an undrafted free agent signing who I pick as my darkhorse to make the NHL. For those wondering, the cut-off for what is or isn’t a prospect is typically about 50 NHL games played (including playoffs) or being 25 years old. These are not hard or fast rules though, and I may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances.

The 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks were one of the best teams in recent memory, setting records for their undefeated run to start the season, and going on to wing the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, while the 2013-14 team played well, they did not play quite as well as the previous edition, and failed to repeat as Cup Champions, as so many have done since our last repeat winner, the 1997 and 1998 Detroit Red Wings. The Hawks fell in the conference final to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the best playoff series we’ve seen in years.

The Off-season has brought the Blackhawks a new second line centre as they have signed Brad Richards to a one-year deal, solving one of the biggest holes for the club in recent years. It was filled by Michal Handzus since he was acquired in a trade in late 2013, but it was clear that a big upgrade was needed and Handzus is currently an unrestricted free agent who won’t be back. While Richards is on a one year deal, the future of the Hawks at 2nd line centre likely lies in the prospects below. Overall the roster movement in Chicago this summer has been slow, and with the Hawks over the cap another move may be coming. That said the biggest move was signing leaders Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to matching 8-year extensions that begin in 2015-16.

2014 Draft Picks Reviewed by LWOS: Nick Schmaltz

Graduations: Ben Smith, David Rundblad

Top Chicago Blackhawks Prospects

Top Prospect: Teuvo Teravainen, Centre

Born Sep 11 1994 — Helsinki, Finland

Height 5.11 — Weight 176 — Shoots L

Drafted in the 1st round, #18 Overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2012 NHL Draft

Teravainen burst onto the scene in the second half of the 2011-12 season. Once thought of as a 2nd or 3rd round pick, he rocketed up draft boards with a strong showing in the second half of the SM-Liiga season, a scintillating five nations tournament, and another strong performance at the 2012 World Under 18s.

After being drafted in the first round by Chicago, he’s carried that over to the last two years playing as an 18/19-year-old against men in the SM-Liiga and dominating at the World Juniors with 26 points in 13 games, and leading his team to the 2014 World Junior Gold. Once his Finnish team was eliminated he joined the Hawks for 3 NHL games late in the year, but wasn’t quite ready for the NHL game.

Teravainen is one of my favorite prospects to watch play. He has incredible hockey sense and vision, and is an extremely creative playmaker. Teravainen will attempt passes that most forwards don’t even dream about, feathering pucks through sticks and legs and putting them on the tape of his teammates. He shows incredible vision and passing skills in making these dynamic plays. Teravainen prefers to control the play in the offensive zone often working as a setup man working off the half boards. The has very good hands, and excellent stickhandling leading to a strong puck protection game despite his size. Teravainen also possesses a very hard and accurate one-timer and often unleashes it from the top of the circle. He is especially effective on the Power Play. He has shown that he is willing to take a hit to make a play, despite the fact he is often facing larger opponents. He could use increased upper body strength however, in order to help him win more battles along the boards.

Over the last two years, Teravainen has really worked to improve his skating. He has always had good top-end speed, but he’s made great strides in improving his first step, his acceleration and his agility. He’s surprisingly strong in his lower body, giving him good balance and allowing him to fight through checks, and to remain strong on the puck.

Teravainen is a bit undersized and this can cause him problems in the defensive zone. He can be overpowered by bigger, stronger opponents, and this may mean that his future is as a Right Wing (where he has spent some time when playing for Jokerit) instead of playing Centre (where he’s been used almost exclusively when playing on the Finnish National Squad). He certainly shows strong positioning in the defensive zone, and solid anticipation though, and this should help him going forward.

He appears to be destined for a role in the Blackhawks top-six, its just a matter of when and if he will need any AHL time. A good bet is that he starts the season in the AHL, but could be up with the Hawks if injuries occur.

#2 Prospect: Adam Clendening, Defence

Born Oct 26 1992 — Wheatfield, NY

Height 6.0 — Weight 194 – Shoots Right.

Drafted by Chicago Blackhawks in Round 2 #36 overall 2011 NHL Entry Draft

Adam Clendening has been an offensive force from the blueline for the Rockford IceHogs the last two seasons, putting up 46 points in 73 games in 2012-13, and 12 goals and 59 points in 74 games last year. Along the way he’s picked up AHL second all-star team, and AHL first all-star team selections. These add to a trophy case filled with World Junior Gold, Under 18 Gold, an NCAA D1 first all star team selection, and an NCAA all-rookie team selection from his two years at Boston University.

Clendenings’s offensive game is based on his outstanding hockey IQ. He quarterbacks his team from the back end, making the smart play whether it be on the breakout, joining the rush, or quarterbacking things from the blueline. He is a very good puck handler, and opens up passing and shooting lanes with good lateral mobility and agility. Clendening has a hard slap shot and very good wrist shot and varies them depending on the situation to make sure he gets the puck through to the net and as quickly as possible. His passing ability is sublime and he finds openings that others would not see. As far as his offensive game goes, Clendening is pretty close to NHL ready.

Its the other parts of his game that need some work. Clendening is a very upright skater. He needs to get more bend in his knees and hips, this would improve his speed and acceleration, as well as give him a more powerful base and better balance. He needs to be quickier, as he is vulnerable to fast forwards taking him wide and going to the net.

In the defensive zone, Clendening has improved his position, and his stick

work to create turnovers and cut down lanes. He could stand to add some more strength which would help him clear the crease and work in the corners. These areas have gotten better over the last two years though, and if he can just add a little bit more, he could be ready for the big club. One area that does help him is how quickly and efficiently he moves the puck when he is able to grab a loose puck, or gets back for dump-ins. Starting a strong puck possession game fits in well with the Hawks system, and will lead to more offensive zone time and less defensive time.

Clendening likely needs just a little more AHL time before he is ready to add even more offence to the Hawks blueline. He could be used as a callup this year with a full time position as early as the second half of the season, or the 2015-16 season.

#3 Prospect: Jeremy Morin, Right Wing

Born Apr 16 1991 — Auburn, NY

Height 6.01 — Weight 189 — Shoots Right

Selected by the Atlanta Thrashers in Round 2 #45 overall of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Traded to the Blackhawks in June 2010

Jeremy Morin was a PPG player with 24 goals and 47 points in 47 games last season, and this earned him anumber of call ups to the Blackhawks. It was a yo-yo like season with Morin spending much time commuting from Rockford to Chicago. He did pick up 5 goals and 11 points in 24 games, showing that he is ready to provide secondary offence at the NHL level.

Jeremy Morin is a talented young sniper who is capable of playing all three forward positions. He was the centre piece of the package acquired by the Blackhawks in the trade that saw Dustin Byfuglien go to Atlanta following the 2010 Stanley Cup win. Morin has soft hands, excellent stickhandling ability, and a great wrist shot. His wrist shot is especially deadly because he has an absolutely outstanding release. The quickness with which he is able to get his shot off and fire the puck on net is extremely impressive for fans to watch, and makes his shot difficult for goalies to stop. He has high level hockey IQ and is often in the right position ready to take a pass from a teammate and riffle off that wrist shot. Morin also has good offensive vision and creativity to contribute as a playmaker off the wing. However, he sometimes tries to do a little too much, and must cut out the offensive zone turnovers that happen from time to time.

Morin has spent his time in the AHL working on his skating. He has gotten a lot smoother, and improved his mechanics, but his stride is still a little bit choppy, and his start-up and acceleration could continue to improve, but they are much better than when he left Kitchener. His skating speed is not a liability by any means, but isn’t really a strength either. At this point it is remarkably average. . He does have very good agility and is able to use his shiftiness to get a step on a defender at times. Good strength and balance make him hard to knock off the puck.

Morin has also worked on his defensive game. While he’s not a big hitter, he’s not afraid to battle for loose pucks, or to get into passing and shooting lanes. He provides support to the defence down low, containing the cycle, and is smart to make himself a good outlet on the breakout.

While he still has some things to work on, the 23-year-old looks ready to make the full-time jump to the NHL this year in training camp. His time is now, and the Blackhawks will no longer be able to ignore Morin’s ability for much longer.

Super Sleeper: Vince Hinostroza, Centre

Born Apr 3 1994 — Bartlett, IL

Height 5.09 — Weight 175

Drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in round 6 #169 overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft

Since being a sixth round pick in 2012, Vince Hinostroza has had a pair of outstanding seasons. In 2012-13 he put up 60 points in 46 games for Waterloo in the USHL. He followed that up with a great freshman season for a low scoring, defense first Notre Dame squad putting up 32 points in 34 games. He also made Team USA for the World Juniors and had 5 points in 5 games.

Just a reminder that this is the sleeper pick according to the 4th round or later criteria, and not the fourth best prospect in the system. While we like Hinostroza, he just doesn’t surpass a number of the players the Hawks drafted higher.

Hinostroza is a high-energy player who is always moving his feet and always involved in the play. Despite his small size, he is not afraid to get his nose dirty on the forecheck, or to battle for pucks on the boards or in front of the net. Once he gets the puck, Hinostroza, has shown slick stickhandling and the ability to extend plays allowing his linemates the time to get open. He has excellent vision and can make strong passes through very small openings to create plays. Hinostroza has shown an ability to score goals with his quick hands on rebounds, tip-ins, and dekes in close, but isn’t really known as a sniper from further out, as his wrist shot lacks power.

Hinostroza is a very good skater with good top end speed and acceleration. He can beat defenders to the outside on the rush and gets in very quickly on the forecheck. He has the agility to be very shifty and avoid defensders in the offensive zone. He also has the balance and low centre of gravity necessary to play his gritty game.

Hinostroza’s defensive game is developping at Notre Dame as he backchecks well and is not afraid to block shots to help the team. His biggest detriment though is his size, as he simply can’t contain bigger forwards in the cycle.

Hinostroza has the natural talent to make the NHL, but must overcome his small size. He needs to bulk up to play his game at the pro level, and needs to continually improve even the strengths of his game like his playmaking ability and skating. To make the NHL at 5’9″ you really have to have a skill set apart from the average player, but Hinostroza has shown the ability to be a dominant player at the World Junior and NCAA level despite that size. Don’t count out this 6th rounders ability to overcome this obstacle.

The Blackhawks have a particularly deep system on defence and up the middle. At centre they have Mark McNeil, Joakim Nordstrom, Phillip Danault, and John Hayden in addition to the two prospects listed above and first round pick Nick Schmaltz. 2013 first rounder Ryan Hartman plays a very gritty game on the wing and comes in just behind Morin amongst the Hawks wingers. McNeil and Hayden have also shown the versatility to play on the wing, and this will come in handy given the fact that there are only so many spots available down the middle for Chicago. On Defence, we see Stephen Johns, Klas Dahlbeck, Carl Dahlstrom and Dillon Fournier provide a nice variety of skill sets and add depth behind Clendening. If there is a weakspot; its in goal. Antti Raanta is the team’s top goaltending prospect but he looks like he tops out as a solid backup (a role he should take for the Blackhawks this season). While there are a number of other prospects there, they seem to be more long-term projects than blue chippers. Overall though, the Hawks have drafted well in recent years, and this is apparent in the depth of the system. This depth has helped the team retool on the fly in recent years, after cap issues forced them to part with a lot of their depth, particularly after the 2010 Stanley Cup win.

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