Word came early on Sunday afternoon that the Chicago Blackhawks had signed NCAA standout forward Nick Schmaltz to his entry-level deal, taking him out of the program a couple of years early. Their 2014 1st round draft pick could have stayed at the University of North Dakota for at least another season, but the NHL came calling and it is probably exceptionally hard to turn down a team like the Blackhawks, who may think that he's ready to go.
Schmaltz is listed as the Blackhawks' top prospect in their Future Watch issue, but at age 20, he was thought to be staying in college for another year, which is why he wasn't on the Pool Outlook post last month. With the Hawks trading Teuvo Teravainen to Carolina, it opened up a spot in their top nine and now they have another top prospect to audition for the part. Definitely a name to watch out for at the draft.
No comments:
Post a Comment