After the combine: Ranking candidates for Blackhawks’ third overall pick

From Alex Turcotte to Bowen Byram to Trevor Zegras, the Hawks have a variety of enticing options.

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Trevor Zegras, seen here answering questions at the NHL Combine in Buffalo, is one of six possibilities for the Blackhawks’ much-anticipated selection.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The NHL Combine wrapped up Saturday, leaving the Blackhawks less than three weeks before they must announce the third overall selection in the draft on stage in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Director of scouting Mark Kelley said Friday the Hawks have narrowed their list of candidates to roughly six prospects. Though he didn’t name them, at least four or five are definite inclusions.

1. Alex Turcotte

Center, U.S. National Team Development Program

Turcotte has the tools: He’s an all-around center with excellent vision and hockey sense, deceptive speed, innate drive and a knack for getting to dangerous areas of the ice.

Turcotte fills a need: The Hawks don’t have a forward prospect anywhere near his caliber, and they really haven’t in years.

Turcotte wants to play for the Hawks: He’s from the northwest suburbs, is signed with Wisconsin and raved at the combine about his admiration for Jonathan Toews.

If the Hawks want a successor for Toews down the road and a one-year-away impact player for the short term, Turcotte is the answer.

2. Bowen Byram

Defenseman, Vancouver (Western Hockey League)

Although the Hawks are more flush with defense prospects than with forward prospects, they certainly need all the help they can get, considering their defensive struggles lately.

If Byram can hop into the United Center immediately, that would boost his stock even more. He’s an elite, puck-moving defenseman who is particularly good at creating offense on the breakout and is several tiers above any other blue-liner in this draft class.

3. Trevor Zegras

Center, U.S. National Team Development Program

Zegras was the setup man this past season on a loaded U.S. national team that also featured Turcotte, Cole Caufield and Jack Hughes.

Kelley called Zegras ‘‘as skilled as anyone in the draft,’’ which he demonstrates through his excellent — occasionally mind-blowing — passing ability. The playmaking skill always has been elite, but Zegras mentioned he has improved his skating and agility, too.

4. Cole Caufield

Right wing, U.S. National Team Development Program

Caufield was the finisher for many of Zegras’ assists in 2018-19, scoring a whopping 72 goals in 64 games.

He often has been compared to Alex DeBrincat because of his fantastic wrist shot and 5-7 frame, but he tried to pitch himself as more than a DeBrincat clone in his meeting with the Hawks this week, mentioning his speed and hockey sense as other strong attributes.

‘‘I don’t need to have the puck to have success, and that’s what’s really hard in the game these days,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m different in that way that I don’t need the puck to make other people around me better.’’

5. Dylan Cozens

Center, Lethbridge (Western Hockey League)

In a draft class full of small- to medium-sized forwards, Cozens’ 6-3 frame stands out, but he doesn’t play like a big-bodied grinder of old. The Canadian center tore up his junior league last season to the tune of 84 points in 68 games.

Byram, a fellow WHL star, said Cozens ‘‘uses his body well to get to the net and then, when he’s there, has the hands and the smarts to put the puck in the back of the net.’’

6. Vasili Podkolzin

Right wing, SKA (Russia)

The sixth and final player on Kelley’s list is likely either Podkolzin, a hotly debated Russian, or Kirby Dach, a safer yet lower-upside Canadian center.

The downside to Podkolzin is that he has two years left on his Kontinental Hockey League contract.

On the other hand, he attended the combine in a display of commitment to an NHL future and has pro-league experience already — unlike almost all his peers — that he said has improved his reaction time, physical play and versatility.

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