The Chicago Blackhawks keep making headlines when it comes to their prospect pool. Corey Pronman (The Athletic) has the Hawks ranked No. 2 in his 2025 NHL Pipeline Rankings, while Steven Ellis (Daily Faceoff) puts them at No. 3.
The big difference is in criteria:
- Pronman: Players must be 22 or younger on Sept. 15, and it doesn’t matter how many NHL games they’ve played.
- Ellis: Players must be 23 or younger and under 50 NHL games.
Those rules alone change the outlook — who’s in, who’s out, and how the lists shake out. Below, I’ve laid out Pronman, Ellis, and my own rankings so you can compare for yourself.
Pronman vs Ellis (Blackhawks Top 10 – minus NHLers)
| Rank | Pronman (The Athletic) | Ellis (Daily Faceoff) |
| 1 | Levshunov | Rinzel |
| 2 | Frondell | Levshunov |
| 3 | Rinzel | Frondell |
| 4 | Boisvert | Moore |
| 5 | Moore | Boisvert |
| 6 | West | Vanacker |
| 7 | Dach | Lardis |
| 8 | Kantserov | Kantserov |
| 9 | G | Del Mastro |
| 10 | Greene | Dach |
Key Differences:
- First of all, Rinzel is ranked #1 by Ellis but only #3 by Pronman.
- Meanwhile, Ellis introduces Vanacker, Lardis, and Del Mastro, while Pronman sticks with West, Allan, and Greene.
- In the end, both lists agree on the same backbone: Levshunov, Frondell, Moore, Boisvert, and Kantserov.
Top 15 Comparison — Pronman vs Coach Frenchy (With Big 3)
| Rank | Pronman (with Big 3) | Coach Frenchy (with Big 3) |
| 1 | Bedard | Bedard |
| 2 | Levshunov | Levshunov |
| 3 | Frondell | Frondell |
| 4 | Nazar | Nazar |
| 5 | Korchinski | Rinzel |
| 6 | Rinzel | Korchinski |
| 7 | Boisvert | Kaiser |
| 8 | Moore | Moore |
| 9 | West | Boisvert |
| 10 | Dach | Kantserov |
| 11 | Kantserov | Dach |
| 12 | Allan | Del Mastro |
| 13 | Greene | Lardis |
| 14 | Vanacker | Vanacker |
| 15 | Nestrasil | Nestrasil |
Key Differences:
- To begin with, I keep Frondell in the Top 3, just like Pronman.
- However, I push Nazar higher than he does.
- Rinzel and Korchinski switch spots compared to Pronman.
- Kaiser cracks my Top 10, Pronman leaves him out.
- I rate Del Mastro, Lardis, and Vanacker higher, while Pronman stays with Greene and Allan.
Adjusted Top 10 (No Big 3) — Pronman vs Ellis vs Coach Frenchy
| Rank | Pronman (No Big 3) | Ellis (Daily Faceoff) | Coach Frenchy (Adjusted) |
| 1 | Levshunov | Rinzel | Levshunov |
| 2 | Frondell | Levshunov | Rinzel |
| 3 | Rinzel | Frondell | Frondell |
| 4 | Boisvert | Moore | Moore |
| 5 | Moore | Boisvert | Boisvert |
| 6 | West | Vanacker | Lardis |
| 7 | Dach | Lardis | Dach |
| 8 | Kantserov | Kantserov | Kantserov |
| 9 | Allan | Del Mastro | Del Mastro |
| 10 | Greene | Dach | Vanacker |
Key Differences:
- Rinzel: Pronman (#3), Ellis (#1), me (#2).
- Frondell: Stable in all lists, I still keep him #3.
- West & Greene: Out of my Top 10 completely.
- Del Mastro, Lardis, Vanacker: Big movers compared to Pronman — they belong inside my 10.
Question for Fans
Now it’s your turn, Hawks fans:
Which list makes the most sense to you — Pronman, Ellis, or mine?
Would you push up guys like Del Mastro, Lardis, or Vanacker?
Should West and Greene still be ranked higher, or is it time to drop them down?
Final Word
No matter which ranking you follow, the Chicago Blackhawks’ prospect pool is loaded. With Bedard at the top and a deep supporting cast of Levshunov, Nazar, Rinzel, Korchinski, Moore, Frondell and Boisvert, this organization is building a foundation to be dangerous for years to come.
Remember — you have greatness inside of you.
Good detailed write up Monsieur Frenchy.
Where to start? Sometimes my head spins just recalling all the prospects’ names in the pipeline besides ranking them 1-10 or 1-15. No matter what anyone’s list is, it’s evident the train is full of prospects and things look bright down the tracks as we reach the end of the tunnel.
A good thing about having a ton of prospects is that we know not all are going to become NHL regulars. So if a few don’t make it as projected, there are others in line to contribute eventually.
As to your adjusted top 10 ranking –
– Agree that Lev, Rinzel and Frondell are probably the top three.
– Moore, Boisvert and Lardis deserve their ranking as 4-6.
– Hopefully Lardis will adjust to the AHL and eventually the NHL and be at least a 20 goal scorer. Same with Kantserov if he comes over.
– I can’t see Dach in the top 10. I think he’s just a guy. I know he has an injury history, so this season is a big year for him to prove me wrong. I would maybe move Vanacker up to #7 and add Greene at #10 to replace Dach.
– Agree that West shouldn’t be in the top 10. He’s a young raw talent with a high ceiling, but it’s too early to know his upside. As he develops and plays more hockey, he’ll likely move up in the rankings in the future.
– Both DelMastro or Allan should develop into a dependable 2nd or 3rd pair D-man. Together with Vlasic, Kaiser, Levshunov, Rinzel and Korchinski, the defense should be set for a long time.
And, just think, most likely there will be a top 5 pick next summer to add to the list.
Where you been all of Hawk’s fans’ lives, Frenchy???…… Boilermaker, and a handful of others, left a link, and often does, to your blog so I read you a month back and every day since. Meant to chime in and this is a perfect chance.. Lotta work, lotsa knowledge buttressed by obvious experience and time put into this piece just like all your stuff. ..
No fluff, no hot take lazy bs posts that when someone disagrees it will spark reasoned mature responses/debate. ….. This is gonna be a great site as the next phase of the rebuild begins this yr (KD draft choices playing in the NHL this yr and a few waves developing at every level all the way down to jrs while still holding future 1st and 2nd rd picks)….. As you’ve written, they’re stacked but the rubber is now hitting the road and success is certainly not guaranteed. Still loads of forks in the road for KD and Crew.
But Frenchy, who are you? You’ve obviously seen decades of Hawks games and write professionally so I must have missed you somehow. Can you take a 1/4 of one of your posts to give us a Frenchy profile? …….. Again, read you every day now and glad to have found you, and this site too. …. Meltzer is first rate and a solid read even if you’re not a Flyers fan so I’m glad he’s here. Is he a founder of Hockey Hot Stove.
Pierre “Coach Frenchy” Deschenes is well known around minor hockey in Quebec, mostly in the coaching realm. He is fully bilingual even though French is his first language. In terms of NHL content. he’s most associated with Habs content but he can write very knowledgeably about pretty much every team, but especially the Blackhawks or Bruins. He’ll be doing some occasional Francophone articles on the Canadiens (he’s done one thus far) but the Blackhawks are his home base team here on HHS. He’s doing a great job.
Side note: Appreciate the compliment!
These lists are great, i guess i look at it a little different, there’s 2 sides in my thought process Rinzel and Nazar are my top prospects because they are further developed than any other prospect, i guess I’d call it NHL ready.
Levshunov is unbelievable talent wise and i can’t believe Pronman said he and Rinzel were average NHL skaters?
I think we benefited from Frondell being injured to start out the year, after watching as much tape as i could i really liked Frondells game more than Misa. I think Frondell will be a stud, and gotta admit looking forward to a Bedard, Nazar, Frondell, Lardis, Arty or Sam, Power play they can all shoot the puck
I also think Lardis should be in the top 10 with our little Russian who seems to be getting better and better. I believe he won a few difficult events at the scouting combine which tells me he trains hard. We’ll see how small he plays in Rockford but i gotta say i was impressed with the Bull Dogs playoff run and even more impressed at how they fell apart when Lardis was injured.
All i know is this is, when 15 of your picks are in the top 40 the past 4 years, you don’t have to rely on one player hitting, for example what is Dickinson doesn’t hit for SJ then what for that org they’ll have to do what the Habs did and be lucky that a Dobson becomes available.
In my perfect world we can end up trading players we feel we have enough of keep our draft picks to keep the farm system going, determine who our core is and keep filling around them for the next 10 to 15 years.