While he may not be the second coming of
Jonathan Toews, not many are, soon-to-be UND freshman forward Nick Schmaltz impressed the
Chicago Blackhawks brass with his efforts during a recent development camp.
Scott Powers, ESPNChicago.com --- To eliminate that risk, the Blackhawks could look to sign those college prospects earlier. They could attempt to sway their top top-tier college players to leave after their sophomore or junior seasons and sign them to entry-level contracts. They have done this before with players such as Jonathan Toews and Nick Leddy.
The Blackhawks already appear to have a handful of players whom they might consider signing prior to their senior seasons. Forwards John Hayden, Vincent Hinostroza and Anthony Louis are coming off productive freshman seasons and continued to impress at last week's prospect camp. Tyler Motte didn't attend the camp, but he also had a strong freshman season. Nick Schmaltz, the Blackhawks' 2014 first-round pick, also played well in the camp and will be a freshman next year.
That being said, it doesn't appear that the Blackhawks are going to rush him to sign an NHL contract, either.
Scott Powers, ESPNChicago.com --- Blackhawks amateur scouting director Mark Kelley did a majority of the evaluating of the 6-foot, 172-pound Schmaltz and had him high on the list of the offensively-skilled players in the NHL draft. One of Schmaltz’s skills especially stood out to Kelley.
“His hands, they’re fast,” Kelley said at the NHL draft.
Schmaltz isn’t a finished product, and that also attracted the Blackhawks to him. The Blackhawks weren’t looking for someone in the first round they could rush to the NHL. They sought someone with a high ceiling, but who would need time to get there.
