Blackhawks Prospects
Blackhawks Prospects of the Week: Foursome Nominated for Hobey Baker Award

Being a fan of a rebuilding team is a difficult task. It’s not easy to deal with losing while trying to remain patient for the future. However, if the rebuild works, the reward of seeing your favorite team get back to the top of the mountain is worth all the low moments.
Chicago Blackhawks fans are in a weird place right now. The excitement of having your cornerstone player in Connor Bedard has tapered off as the team struggles. A portion of the fan base is feeling bitter because this season was supposed to be better, and it hasn’t been. It’s hard to look towards a bright future when the current roster is producing ideal results.
The future for the Blackhawks is still bright. There is a lot of young talent on the way. For the rest of this season, I’ll spotlight some Prospects of the Week to keep you informed on who in the pipeline is making a big impact. This week’s choices were made easy because four Blackhawks draft picks were nominated for the Hobey Baker Award.
The prestigious award was created to promote amateur hockey in the United States by recognizing individuals who embody the legacy of Hobey Baker and is given to the top player in college hockey. Former winners include Macklin Celebrini, Adam Fantilli, Cole Caufield, Cale Makar, Jack Eichel, and Johnny Gaudreau.
The selection process for the Hobey Baker has three parts. First, NCAA Division I coaches nominate the top three players in their league and the top three players in the nation. Then the online votes of college hockey fans trim the field down to 10 players. Those 10 players get narrowed down to the final three, or the “Hobey Hat Trick,” from which the winner is selected.
These four recent draft picks are part of the initial field and your Blackhawks Prospects of the Week!
Sacha Boisvert – F – University of North Dakota
The second of three 2024 first-round picks is having a huge freshman season at North Dakota. He has nine goals and 19 points in his 23 NCAA Games. Boisvert has three goals and seven points in his past 10 games. He had a season-high eight shots on goal in a recent win over St. Cloud State. The 6-foot-2 center is a shooter first but plays a traditional power forward game. He can use his heavy shot from a distance or get to the dirty areas of the ice and score a greasy goal. It’s easy to see why Kyle Davidson used the 18th overall pick of last summer’s draft to add Boisvert to the mix.
Ryan Greene – F – Boston University
We’ve been keeping tabs on Green since the Blackhawks took him in the second round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. He is serving as captain for one of the top college hockey programs in the nation. His 11 goals are just one shy of his career high set last season. He has 23 points in 21 games and has goals in five straight contests. Greene will likely turn pro once his junior season in Boston concludes.
Aidan Thompson – F – Denver University
Thompson returned to Denver after winning the National Championship last spring. He was added to the leadership group by being named an alternate captain. He only needed 22 games to set a new career-high in goals with 13. He’s three points shy of his career-high of 32 set during his freshman season. The centerman has back-to-back games with a goal and an assist. He’s another college player who could be joining the professional ranks this spring. Many Blackhawks fans would love him to bring his head coach, David Carle, with him.
Sam Rinzel – D – University of Minnesota
While the 2023 draft class will be remembered for nabbing Bedard at the top, Davidson’s first draft in 2022 laid the foundation of the rebuild. Rinzel is the third member of that draft class nominated for the Hobey Baker. When Davidson took Rinzel with the 25th overall pick, he was considered a long-term project. Two years later, and it would not surprise anyone if he’s a pro by the end of this season. His progression since joining the Golden Gophers has been impressive. The only reason he wasn’t part of the World Junior Championship was because he aged out. The fleet-footed, 6-foot-4 blueliner has nine goals and 24 points in 26 games this season.