Chicago has the No. 4 pick after the lottery. Prospect expert Chris Peters weighs scenarios, including whether Ivar Stenberg could drop and who else fits the Hawks.
A high pick is rarely a guarantee of the player you imagined—and the Blackhawks’ No.. 4 slot after the draft lottery is forcing them to plan for more than one plausible outcome.. With the NHL Draft set for June 26. Chicago general manager Kyle Davidson is taking time to finalize prospect rankings. but the order ahead of them could quickly reshape their board.
Tuesday’s lottery results pushed Chicago down to the fourth selection, behind the Maple Leafs, Sharks and Canucks. That means the Hawks will have to watch how those three teams choose at the top, then adjust in real time as their preferred targets become available—or disappear.
The broader talent picture also matters.. Prospect scouting expert Chris Peters. who follows the draft class for FloHockey. argues that this year’s group looks weaker than average overall. and he doesn’t see a clear top-end superstar comparable to Connor Bedard.. In his view. this kind of draft makes it harder to read the quality at the very top because the best player might not necessarily come from the No.. 1 selection.
Against that backdrop, Peters laid out the possibilities for what the Blackhawks might do with the No. 4 pick, including whether a prospect who initially appeared out of reach could slide. Among the players generating the most conversation is Ivar Stenberg, a left wing from Frolunda in Sweden.
Stenberg had been widely seen as the second-best prospect behind Gavin McKenna in many public rankings. which raised questions after the lottery about whether Chicago could realistically land him.. Peters notes, however, that the draft behavior of teams picking second and third could change the equation.. He said mock drafts—including his latest—often project the Sharks and Canucks passing on Stenberg. potentially allowing him to fall to Chicago.
The fit question is central to why Stenberg remains on the table.. Peters said the Sharks. picking second. are likely seeking an elite defenseman to complete a young core that has impressed early.. Meanwhile. the Canucks. picking third. have been linked to Caleb Malhotra in part because of the connection to their development pipeline: Malhotra’s father. Manny. is an AHL coach with Vancouver.
If Stenberg does become available. Peters described him as an appealing stylistic match for the direction Chicago is trying to build.. He said Stenberg’s game blends speed. competitiveness. skill. and tenacity. and that he can both make the simpler. correct play and still create moments that force opponents to adjust.. Despite not being a large player, Peters suggested Stenberg plays with a physical edge when the situation demands it.
Peters also pointed to Stenberg’s production and international performance as evidence of his readiness to be more than a mere placeholder prospect.. In Sweden. Stenberg posted an unusually strong season for a teenager. finishing with 33 points in 43 games and scoring more points than Hawks prospect Anton Frondell. though with fewer goals.. He also topped Sweden as the country’s leading scorer at the world junior championships. where the team won a gold medal.
When Peters compared Stenberg with McKenna. both listed at 5-11. he emphasized that physical strength may help separate them in how they handle the perimeter and avoid getting stuck on the edges.. He said Stenberg is rarely caught out there the way McKenna can be. and he characterized Stenberg as someone unafraid to go into difficult areas. dig for the puck. and use his hands to make plays.
The timing of Stenberg’s next move may also matter for the Hawks’ decision.. Peters said Stenberg is not under contract with Frolunda for next season. which could open the door for him to move to North America and compete for an NHL job relatively quickly. rather than waiting a full development cycle in Europe.
Another scenario Peters explored is whether Chicago could prioritize offense through the Malhotra pick at center.. Caleb Malhotra. a player from Brantford in the OHL. surged in the rankings late in the season. especially after a powerful second half.. Peters said that in a year where there were questions about whether a true top-five-caliber center existed. Malhotra stood out as that answer.
Malhotra’s OHL numbers reflected that rise.. Peters described him as second on Brantford with 84 points in 67 games. trailing only Kraken prospect Jake O’Brien. who was selected at No.. 8 last year.. Behind Malhotra. the Hawks’ own Anton Frondell-related list included another player in the mix: he had more points than Hawks prospect Marek Vanacker. who Peters identified as a No.. 27 pick in 2024, while still finishing below O’Brien.
Chicago’s interest in Malhotra also connected to how often they watched his game. Peters said. because they had been following Vanacker closely as well.. Peters noted that Vanacker’s 47 goals far outpaced Malhotra’s 29 and O’Brien’s 28 during the season. which made it easier for the Hawks to compare how these prospects performed under different demands.
The playoff stretch, in Peters’ telling, helped clarify Malhotra’s profile for evaluators. He said Malhotra produced 26 points in 15 OHL playoff games, including 13 goals, a run Peters described as “berserk” and one that should have made his game familiar to Chicago scouts.
Still, Peters argued there are differences in pro readiness between Malhotra and Stenberg.. He said Malhotra is less prepared for the NHL immediately. in part because he is committed to Boston University and would likely need at least one—if not two—college seasons to develop.. At the same time. Peters said Malhotra’s size and all-around play reduce the risk of selecting him despite the likely timeline.
Peters pointed to Malhotra’s physical measurements as part of the appeal: the center is 6-2 and plays a “mature” style.. He also highlighted skills that extend beyond scoring. saying Malhotra can kill penalties and take faceoffs. which can be crucial in making a new draft pick useful before their offensive ceiling fully arrives.
For defense-first possibilities, Peters’ draft board included Chase Reid of the Soo in the OHL, where opinions about the best defenseman in the class varied over the season. Peters said Reid ultimately rose and passed Keaton Verhoeff as the majority choice by season’s end.
Reid’s profile, as Peters described it, is built on usage, production, and the modern demands of the position.. He said Reid (6-2, 195 pounds) experienced a rapid climb after playing Tier II junior hockey as recently as fall 2024.. Over the season. he averaged roughly 27 to 28 minutes and produced at more than a point per game level. totaling 48 points in 45 games.
Peters characterized Reid as a “workhorse” with an athletic toolkit and a mentality that suggests growth is still ahead. He tied Reid’s appeal directly to today’s NHL emphasis on puck-moving defenders, arguing that those traits increase the value of a player like him in a high pick.
At the same time. Peters acknowledged a possible hesitation for Chicago: Reid and two other Hawks-relevant defensive targets on the team’s radar include offensive right-handed defensemen.. Peters referenced Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel, both described as offensive right-handed defenders similar in handedness to Reid.. He suggested that if Chicago believes Reid can be better than either of those players. then the selection likely should not be constrained by a need to avoid positional overlap.
Peters also noted Reid’s next step in development. He will play at Michigan State next season and will join the same freshman class as Mason West, a Hawks forward prospect, which could help the organization track his progress in a structured collegiate environment.
If the Hawks move toward a different type of defenseman. Peters also discussed Carson Carels. a left-handed defenseman from Prince George in the WHL.. He said Carels matches Chicago’s needs more directly as a defensive-leaning option. with an approach to work that Peters described as acclaimed—something teams like the Hawks typically value.
In Peters’ framing, Chicago might only consider a defenseman if its preferred forward targets are gone.. He said that if the forwards are off the board. the Hawks would still need to weigh other needs. and that Carels’ profile could fit well as a defender who is better in the defensive zone than either Reid or Verhoeff.
Carels’ season included meaningful production: Peters said he recorded 73 points in 58 games for Prince George.. But he also cautioned that the nature of that output may have been driven more by hockey sense and smart decision-making than by purely dynamic skill.. He added that Carels surpassed Verhoeff on Canada’s depth chart during the world junior championships. which Peters used as a sign that Carels may be viewed favorably in elite competition.
Whether Carels is ready for immediate pro competition is another variable Peters raised.. He expects Carels will likely move to the NCAA next season. even though he has not committed to a school yet.. That uncertainty could factor into how Chicago balances short-term needs against longer development plans.
Keaton Verhoeff represented a different defensive style in Peters’ evaluation.. The North Dakota defenseman is known among older hockey fans for his size and willingness to use it. with Peters describing him as stout at 6-3 and 208 pounds.. That reputation, Peters suggested, may have hidden holes that showed up at the NCAA level.
Peters said he believed Verhoeff’s subpar defensive awareness and decision-making were exposed during the North Dakota season. He pointed to the results in production and postseason exposure, noting that Verhoeff recorded 20 points in 36 games and struggled noticeably during the NCAA Tournament.
For Peters, those struggles helped clarify where his game might fall short relative to a top-five draft grade.. He said evaluators got to see specific holes. and that concerns about “hockey sense” can be the point at which a player starts to look less like a true top-five selection.. He also said Verhoeff’s skating is debated. with some experts criticizing backward and lateral mobility and clumsy changes of direction. though Peters believes the skating is fine.
The list of defensive options also included Alberts Smits, a left-handed defenseman for Jukurit in Finland.. Peters described Smits as a prospect who has already faced top-level competition. having served as Latvia’s top defenseman in the Olympics and then facing pros in Finnish and German leagues during the same season.. For teams trying to gauge readiness, that experience can make evaluations more grounded.
Peters described Smits as the most NHL-ready defenseman in the class. again emphasizing size. poise. and left-handedness—attributes organizations often prioritize as they look for immediate impact.. But he said Smits’ upside. especially offensively. is lower than that of his peers. which may create a tradeoff between current readiness and future scoring potential.
While Peters evaluated multiple defensemen. he also signaled how the Hawks might approach the forward side of the board depending on what happens with the top three selections.. If Chicago ends up committing to a forward—and if McKenna. Stenberg and Malhotra go in the first three picks as many mock drafts suggest—then the next tier of forwards would become especially relevant.
Peters highlighted several names as the “next-best” options: Viggo Bjorck, Ethan Belchetz, and Tynan Lawrence.. He said Bjorck is a small, intelligent center, while Belchetz is a punishing 6-5 winger.. Lawrence. a center. drew early interest for Peters during the first half of his season at Boston University before plateauing later. changing the shape of his evaluation.
Peters cautioned that all three of those forwards would likely represent reaches at No.. 4 if the top trio of forwards are already selected.. That possibility underscores why Chicago will watch the teams picking ahead closely. because each decision at the top can widen or shrink the range of players who truly make sense for the Hawks’ eventual pick.
Blackhawks draft NHL Draft 2026 Ivar Stenberg Caleb Malhotra Chase Reid prospect rankings