After two consecutive years of winning lottery draws, the Blackhawks finally experienced the more likely outcome — falling in the order — during the 2025 NHL Draft lottery Monday.
The Hawks entered the day with a 72.4% chance of falling, and that’s exactly what happened. They wound up with the No. 3 pick while the Islanders snatched the No. 1 pick — despite just 3.5% odds of doing so entering the day.
Utah won the second lottery, giving them the No. 4 pick because teams cannot move up more than 10 spots. The Sharks, who finished last in the league standings, got the No. 2 pick.
Considering this year’s draft class isn’t as impressive as the last two, it’s not a disastrous outcome by any means. Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson will still likely get to pick within a group of five or so forward prospects expected to go in some order after defenseman Matthew Schaefer, the consensus top prospect in public rankings.
“I’m excited to head into meetings next week with our amateur group and start the process of nailing down where we want to line up the board and what it looks like,” Davidson said. “We stayed in good range where I think we’re going to be really excited with what we end up with.”
The chances of Michael Misa, considered the best forward within that group in those public rankings, falling to the Hawks are slimmer now — but still very much possible. Misa, a 6-1 center from Ontario, led the OHL with a ridiculous 134 points in 65 games this season with the Saginaw Spirit.
There’s also Porter Martone, a big Canadian forward with great skill but mediocre skating; James Hagens, an elusive American forward coming off a less-impressive-than-expected freshman year at Boston College; Anton Frondell, a sharpshooting Swedish forward with great work ethic but some inconsistency; and Caleb Desnoyers, a lighter but well-rounded Canadian forward who has risen the rankings this season.
The Hawks’ internal rankings aren’t finalized yet, so they have some time to determine their wishlist among that group. But unlike 2023 and 2024, they’ll have to adapt to the uncertainty of other selections taking place before them during the draft June 27-28 in Los Angeles.
“Everyone has different opinions, different thoughts on what makes players successful. And so, ours versus against any other team’s is going to be different and is going to be different from public,” Davidson said. “It’s exciting to get behind the curtain and really hammer away at what those tiers are, or [what] the rankings are for the Blackhawks and what our staff believes and how we see things lining up. Excited to do that, but we’re not quite at that point yet.”
The same goes for hiring a coach.
Davidson said the team does not have a firm timeline on making the hire. It is more certain that the new coach will need to know how to work with young players. And, apparently, beat out a crowded field.
“Based on the reaction in my phone every day, it’s an appealing job,” Davidson said. “We feel that and we know that, but we’ve got to find the right person that fits what we’re doing and that’s kind of the course we’re running right now.”
Davidson confirmed that interim coach Anders Sorensen is under consideration. The Hawks’ GM praised Sorensen for how players improved under his watch, both with the Hawks and at AHL Rockford.
“That’s crucial to where we’re going and that’s something that’s very, very top of mind, no matter who we interview,” Davidson said. “Anders has that feather in his cap.”