Blackhawks' draft-lottery odds locked in with top-four pick guaranteed

LAS VEGAS — The Blackhawks are guaranteed a top-four pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, and they’ll have a 13.5% chance of nabbing the No. 1 overall pick.

The Hawks are locked into 31st place in the NHL standings, ahead of the Sharks and behind the Ducks, giving them the second-best odds in the lottery, which will take place sometime in early May on a yet-to-be-announced date.

They won the lottery last year with lower odds at 11.5% — odds which this year belong to the Ducks. The Sharks have a 25.5% chance of winning and the Blue Jackets are locked into the fourth-highest odds at 9.5%.

The Hawks also have a 14.1% chance of winning the lottery for the No. 2 pick. Unofficially, they have a 30.7% probability of dropping into the No. 3 pick and a 41.7% probability of falling into the No. 4 pick, which is the lowest they can go.

Beyond slam-dunk top-ranked prospect Macklin Celebrini, who will be selected without question by whichever team wins the lottery, the prospect hierarchy this year is much murkier than last year.

In the Central Scouting Service’s final rankings, released Tuesday, defenseman Artyom Levshunov and forward Cayden Lindstrom were second and third among North American skaters while defenseman Anton Silayev and forward Ivan Demidov were first and second among European skaters.

The Hawks’ internal rankings — which have not been finalized yet — may or may not compare to those, though.

The Hawks also own the Lightning’s first-round pick, which will fall somewhere in the back half of the round.

Kurashev’s breakout

Playing alongside Connor Bedard certainly helped, but Hawks forward Philipp Kurashev deserves plenty of individual credit for his breakout season nonetheless.

Kurashev entered Tuesday with 18 goals and 35 assists this season, adding up to 53 points. He has doubled his previous career highs in all three categories after tallying 16, 21 and 25 points during his first three NHL seasons.

He wasn’t interested in reflecting on his season Tuesday, putting that off until after the finale Thursday against the Kings, but coach Luke Richardson said he has seen Kurashev’s naturally quiet personality blossom just like his on-ice performance.

“As he got more comfortable, [I heard him] even barking on the bench a couple times at his teammates, at himself, at the other teams or the refs,” Richardson said.

More highs

Other Hawks who set notable new career highs this season:

• Jason Dickinson in goals — he entered Tuesday with 21 after never scoring more than nine previously.
• Ryan Donato in assists — he entered Tuesday with 17, having set up Bedard, Kevin Korchinski and Landon Slaggert’s first career goals.
• Joey Anderson in games played — he made his 54th appearance Tuesday, well above his previous high of 38.
• Petr Mrazek in games played — he made his 53rd and likely final start of the season Tuesday.