The Chicago Blackhawks have selected third overall in the NHL Draft six times in the team’s history. The Blackhawks have been extremely fortunate on a couple of those occasions, but completely missed the mark on the others.
With the Blackhawks set to pick third overall this Friday (unless they trade the pick), it’s worth grading each one of the Chicago Blackhawks’ third-overall picks in the NHL Draft.
Spoiler alert: There's one A+++ in this list.
1966 – Terry Caffery
Terry Caffery played all of 14 NHL games, six with the Chicago Blackhawks and eight with the Minnesota North Stars.
He did not register an NHL point.
This pick is an F-.
It's too bad as because the #2, Brad Park, went on to have a Hall of Fame career.
1980 – Denis Savard
Denis Savard had a terrific NHL career. He played in 881 games with the Blackhawks, scoring 377 goals and 1,096 points.
He was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in 1990 for Chris Chelios. Savard would win a Stanley Cup in Montreal (1993) and play for the Tampa Bay Lightning before returning to Chicago to close out his career in 1997.
This pick gets an A+.
Savard was the face of the franchise throughout the 1980s. It's a shame the Blackhawks couldn't win a Stanley Cup with Savard on the squad. Savard entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000.
1984 – Ed Olczyk
Ed Olczyk was the Chicago Blackhawks’ first-round pick in 1984, playing five seasons with the club. He appeared in 332 games, scoring 77 goals and 209 points over two stints in the Windy City.
He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Rick Vaive in 1987. Olczyk also played for the Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Los Angeles Kings. He got his only Cup ring with the Rangers in 1994.
This pick earns a C.
Olczyk had a good career, but the success he found wasn't in Chicago.
2004 – Cam Barker
It would be 20 years before the Chicago Blackhawks picked third overall again. In 2004, the team used the pick to take Cam Barker. Barker wasn’t quite the flop, but was a bust considering he was a third-overall pick.
He played in 200 games for the Blackhawks, scoring 17 goals and 80 points. Barker also played for the Minnesota Wild, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks. He totaled 16 points after leaving Chicago.
Sadly, another F- grade for this pick.
But the Hawks would make it up with the next time they picked third overall.
2006 – Jonathan Toews
The Blackhawks would get another third-overall pick two seasons later. This time, the Hawks didn’t miss. They took Jonathan Toews, their longtime captain and three-time Stanley Cup champion.
This pick was a fortunate one for the Blackhawks as Erik Johnson went first overall to the St. Louis Blues and Jordan Staal number two to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Had the Blues or Penguins decided to take Toews, history could have been much different in Chicago.
This choice easily gets an A++++++.
Toews is a franchise icon and an NHL legend. His path to the Hall of Fame is secured.
2019 – Kirby Dach
The Chicago Blackhawks last picked third overall in 2019, selecting Kirby Dach. Dach played three seasons in Chicago before being traded to the Montreal Canadiens. He appeared in 152 games, scoring 19 goals and 59 points.
His disappointing numbers prompted the Blackhawks to trade him to the Habs for a first and a third in the 2022 NHL Draft. The first-rounder turned in Frank Nazar, while the third-rounder became Gavin Hayes. Hayes spent last season in Rockford of the AHL, scoring 15 points in 50 games.
The overall grade on his pick is a B+
It gets this high of a grade because trading Dach landed a solid NHLer in Nazar and an up-and-coming prospect in Hayes. If Nazar turns into a star, we could give Dach a higher grade on the trade's merits alone.
