As they’re ramping up coverage over The Athletic (disclosure: I’m a contributor for their Chicago site), Corey Pronman is rolling out a ranking of the top 100 NHL players under age 25. Two players from the Blackhawks made the No. 50-100 section: forwards Ryan Hartman and Nick Schmaltz.
Pronman importantly noted at the top that these are “based on talent assessment of who I believe will have the best NHL careers. This ranking is not based on how well a player will perform in the 2017-18 season.” So he’s trying to project long-term here rather than focus only on the next nine months.