{"id":896837,"date":"2026-06-27T16:51:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T16:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/896837\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T16:51:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T16:51:17","slug":"nhl-draft-who-did-the-chicago-blackhawks-select","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/896837\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL draft: Who did the Chicago Blackhawks select?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The NHL draft begins Friday at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y. \u2014 but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/06\/26\/chicago-blackhawks-nhl-draft-preview\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">not for the Chicago Blackhawks<\/a>, who traded out of the first round with Tuesday\u2019s trade for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/06\/24\/chicago-blackhawks-welcome-role-bowen-byram\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">defenseman Bowen Byram<\/a> and wing Jordan Greenway from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for defenseman Louis Crevier and the Nos. 4 and 45 picks.<\/p>\n<p>The price was worth it, GM Kyle Davidson said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was just a value that we put on a really, really good young player in (Byram) that we felt it was advantageous to move on and acquire for our group,\u201d he said Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Follow along as the Tribune tracks all the Hawks\u2019 new additions in the 2026 NHL draft.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2026 Blackhawks picks<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Round 2, No. 34:<\/strong> Defenseman Xavier Villeneuve<\/li>\n<li><strong>Round 2, No. 35:<\/strong>\u00a0Center Ryan Roobroeck<\/li>\n<li><strong>Round 3:<\/strong> No. 66:<\/li>\n<li><strong>Round 7:<\/strong> No.\u00a0194<\/li>\n<li><strong>Round 7:<\/strong> No. 200<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Want the latest Blackhawks news? <a href=\"https:\/\/mktops.chicagotribune.com\/subscriptions\/land-flash-sale-g-ct\/?market=ct&amp;source=manage&amp;g2i_source=MC&amp;g2i_medium=manage_member_center&amp;g2i_campaign=FG24\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe to the Chicago Tribune<\/a> to read it all \u2014 and sign up for our <a href=\"https:\/\/signups.medianewsgroup.com\/chicago_tribune_sports\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chicago sports newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Round 2, No. 34: Defenseman Xavier Villeneuve, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Xavier Villeneuve looks on after being drafted by the Blackhawks with the No. 34 pick on June 27, 2026 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett\/Getty Images)\" width=\"6800\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CTC-HAWKS-0627.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"37707134\" \/>Xavier Villeneuve looks on after being drafted by the Blackhawks with the No. 34 pick on June 27, 2026 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Height, weight:<\/strong> 5\u201911, 163 pounds<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why the Blackhawks drafted him<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The 18-year-old blueliner out of the QMJHL\u2019s Blainville-Boisbriand Armada provides extra depth for the Hawks\u2019 defensemen room after trading Louis Crevier to the Buffalo Sabres. The Hawks acquired 25-year-old Bowen Byram with the intention of him being the team\u2019s No. 1 defenseman, so Villeneuve will be another youthful blueliner to learn behind him.<\/p>\n<p>He scored 38 points (six goals, 32 assists) in 37 games in 2025-26.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In his words<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201c(I\u2019m a) super dynamic defenseman, highly skilled who competes every shift. \u2026 The skill set I have I think is pretty rare, without being cocky. I think my footwork and speed will help me (overcome size).\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>You should know<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The defenseman has a late birthday of Sept. 29, making him one of the younger prospects of the 2026 NHL draft class.<\/li>\n<li>Villeneuve will attend Boston University for the 2026-27 season to \u201cwork on being ready for the NHL,\u201d but the goal is to be NHL-ready after.<\/li>\n<li>He compares his game to Montreal Canadiens\u2019 Lane Hutson and said he\u00a0expected the Hawks to draft him.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Round 2, No. 35: Center Ryan Roobroeck, Niagara IceDogs (OHL)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Ryan Roobroeck after the Blackhawks drafted him with the No. 35 pick on June 27, 2026 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett\/Getty Images)\" width=\"5499\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CTC-HAWKS-0637.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"37707151\" \/>Ryan Roobroeck after the Blackhawks drafted him with the No. 35 pick on June 27, 2026 in Buffalo, New York.  (Photo by Bruce Bennett\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Height, weight<\/strong>: 6\u20194, 216 pounds<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why the Blackhawks drafted him<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Hawks moved up two spots to No. 35 to select the 18-year-old center, dealing their No. 37 and No. 119 picks to the Calgary Flames. Roobroeck towers over other forward prospects and uses his size to bring physicality to every play.<\/p>\n<p>Presumably, the forward will be another center option to develop in Rockford and be another option behind Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar and others. Roobroeck scored 58 points (30 goals, 28 assists) in 49 games last season.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In his words<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201c(My best attribute is) the offensive abilities. Aside from that, bringing energy is a huge thing for me, too. \u2026\u00a0(I\u2019m a) power forward (that brings) offense\u2026and energy, using my size to contribute anything I can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>You should know<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He said Dallas Stars\u2019 Mikko Rantanen and Edmonton Oilers\u2019 Leon Draisaitl are players \u201cI like to watch a lot.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Roobroeck gushed at the possibility of playing with Bedard: \u201cHe\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>He will skate with the OHL\u2019s Guelph Storm in the 2026-27 season.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NHL draft begins Friday at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y. \u2014 but not for the Chicago Blackhawks,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":896838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,291,363387,363386,5386,1818,123612,8993,19740,363383,363384,363385,347357],"class_list":["post-896837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-blackhawks","tag-chicago-blackhawks-draft-picks","tag-chicago-blackhawks-nhl-draft","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-kyle-davidson","tag-nhl-draft","tag-nhl-draft-order","tag-ryan-roobroeck","tag-who-did-the-blackhawks-draft","tag-who-did-the-hawks-draft","tag-xavier-villeneuve"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116823111020545605","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=896837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/896838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}