Since 2010, the Blackhawks have drafted more defensemen than players of any other skater position — about 5 percent more than wingers and almost 12 percent more than centers — and goalie the least. However, neither strategy has been particularly successful. The last defensemen the Blackhawks drafted and developed was Niklas Hjalmarsson, selected 16 years ago, while the last goalie the Blackhawks drafted and developed was Corey Crawford, drafted 18 years ago.
To be fair, for several years the Blackhawks had three of the best top-four defensemen in the league in Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Hjalmarsson while Crawford was one of the best goalies in the league to never be nominated for a Vezina.