Whenever you get ready to take a red marker to the Chicago Blackhawks’ 2025 draft sheet, just remember defenseman Sam Rinzel.

Rinzel was labeled a first-round “reach” in 2022 but has been praised as a probable keeper after his nine-game NHL debut late last season.

“You really feel you get your chest out a little bit, especially when you’re part of it,” Hawks amateur scouting director Mike Doneghey said Saturday at Fifth Third Arena. “And I read all the same stuff. No one ever says, ‘Geez, let’s give him an A-plus now for Sam Rinzel.’ No one ever does that.”

Yet the Hawks have another batch of potential head-scratchers after the two-day draft.

A first-round forward who doubles as a quarterback.

A fourth-round forward who seems to be allergic to goals.

A defenseman whose main trait seems to be punching people.

“If (Minnesota high school QB) Mason West was just a hockey player coming out of Fargo, he’s gone by (No.) 20,” Doneghey shot back about the forward whom the Hawks traded back into the first round to select 29th.

This draft, the Hawks decided to do things a little differently. They surveyed their pipeline, full of smallish, skilled players such as Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore, and realized they have deficits in other areas.

“You start seeing them come through the door here and how they play, then you can be like, ‘OK, we need a little bit bigger wingers, we need a little bit more hardness,’” Doneghey said. “Skating has always been a trait of ours. So maybe we don’t need a burner as much. We need a powerful skater but a different skater.”

The Hawks made three first-round selections Friday. They drafted the top-ranked international player, Swedish forward Anton Frondell, with the No. 3 pick and selected Czech winger Vaclav Nestrasil at No. 25.

Shortly after choosing Nestrasil, the Hawks traded with the Carolina Hurricanes to acquire the No. 29 pick they used on West. They gave up two second-round picks, Nos. 34 and 62, plus a fifth-rounder in 2027.

All told, the Hawks have had 11 first-round picks over the last four years. General manager Kyle Davidson said that’s intentional.

“The more you pick early … you’re more likely to succeed,” Davidson said. “And so we’ve taken that philosophy and tried to hit it with volume.

“But I also believe that some of these players are getting to the NHL, some of them are on their path. But from our assessment, an objective assessment, we feel their development so far, we are ahead of the odds in some way. I think we are beating the odds and getting a few more players out of drafts than the odds may dictate.”

The Hawks made five more picks on Day 2 of the draft Saturday, trading the No. 197 pick in the seventh round to the Florida Panthers for a 2026 seventh-rounder. Here’s a look at all eight of their selections.

2025 Blackhawks draft picks

No. 3 (first round): Forward Anton Frondell

No. 25 (first): Forward Vaclav Nestrasil

No. 29 (first): Forward Mason West

No. 66 (third): Forward Nathan Behm

No. 98 (fourth): Forward Julius Sumpf

No. 107 (fourth): Forward Parker Holmes

No. 162 (sixth): Defenseman Ashton Cumby

No. 194 (seventh): Goalie Ilya Kanarsky

No. 3: Forward Anton Frondell

It all started with a pair of pink figure skates.

“It was the first time I stepped on the ice,” Frondell, 18, said on Friday’s ESPN broadcast. “Dad just found some pink figure skating skates. I actually skated with them for a year until he (found) out (and said): ‘Oh, Anton, he loves the sport. He wants this.’

“Then he bought me my real first skates. He really wanted me to be a tennis player when I was younger. But I didn’t fall for the sport.”

NHL Central Scouting regards Frondell as a skilled player with strong legs and a quick stick.

“(He) has a nifty wrist shot and his release is solid and accurate. His hockey IQ shines with intelligent moves, with or without the puck. Likes to set up teammates using small moves and tricky passes.”

Frondell said he’d like to play in the NHL next season, but it’s more likely he’ll return to Sweden to play in the men’s league. However, Davidson said Frondell will be able to participate in Hawks training camp.

“He’s a really smart hockey player,” Davidson said. “He uses his body very effectively, especially in battles along the wall. He just has a really projectable game to the NHL.”

Down the road, Frondell’s arrival in Chicago may beg the question of whether he’ll push Connor Bedard to the wing.

“He doesn’t consider himself a center (or a) wing anyway,” Hawks director of amateur scouting Mike Doneghey said of Frondell.

Doneghey said he asked Frondell at the scouting combine which position he preferred, “and he said, ‘Whatever Connor doesn’t play, I’ll play.’ He’s got a real confidence about him.”

Marcus Krüger, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Hawks, is Frondell’s teammate on Djurgårdens IF. Frondell said Krüger told him: “That’s the best team in the league. If you want to win, go to Chicago.”

Davidson said Krüger supplied Frondell with a lot of information, but Frondell is naturally inquisitive.

“This kid called Johnny Oduya out of the blue just to go meet with him to learn about his breathing exercises that he does,” Davidson said.

No. 25: Forward Vaclav Nestrasil

Nestrasil is a 6-foot-5, 187-pound native of Praha, Czechia, who produced 19 goals and 23 assists in 61 games for Muskegon of the USHL en route to this year’s Clark Cup championship.

NHL Central Scouting calls the 18-year-old “a very skilled power forward. Has a nose for the net and when he uses his size, he’s tough to handle. (He) possesses a hard shot and quick release, making him a scoring threat every time he enters the offensive zone.”

Said Davidson: “You like the physical attributes where (he’s a) big, athletic guy that can really move. He’s got some talent and some really good hockey sense. And again, a raw package.”

No. 29: Forward Mason West

West is a 6-6, 220-pound rising senior at Edina (Minn.) High School. A Division I college football recruit, he has committed to play college hockey at Michigan State — but not until he finishes his final season as a high school quarterback.

“He’s behind the curve; he’s not quite dedicated himself 100% to hockey,” Davidson said of West, who will turn 18 in August and was one of the youngest players eligible for the 2025 NHL draft.

“But at that size, that athleticism, that skating ability, that talent, the sky is the limit. … I just really wanted to get back into the first round and take what I thought was a grand slam hack. I was swinging for the fences and figured, why not?”

West said he felt “ready right now” to start his Hawks career after hearing his name called.

“It was just super special,” he said. “I have family down in Chicago (an uncle and cousin), and I had a really good relationship with Chicago from the start.”

In actuality, West is far from “ready right now.” He has designs on a championship — in high school football. Last year Edina’s postseason ended in the Class 6A quarterfinals in a rout by Maple Grove, and West considers the matter unfinished business.

“I really owed it to my community,” he said. “I really think they need me, and the chance to be able to go back and try to win a state championship would be super special.”

After that, West will play hockey for the USHL’s Fargo Force this season and for Michigan State the following season. Despite the long runway to the NHL, he insists he’s committed to hockey.

“I chose before to play hockey,” West said. “I kind of knew after the first game after Fargo, having that experience, and (I) looked into the next step and the path for me.”

Doneghey added, “He was one of the highest risers in the rankings once he went to Fargo and started playing hockey more than training for football.”

West likened his playing style to rangy Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson.

“Just because of how big he is,” he said. “I try to implement my game from him a ton, just the way he shoots the puck and passes the puck and plays the game.”

Doneghey said West isn’t just big and athletic. He brings another element as a two-sport star.

“He brings that quarterback mentality to the ice when he’s entering the zone,” he said. “He’s always scanning the zone on what plays to make. And he’s comfortable with contact.

“It’ll be a longer road with both him and Nestrasil, but they’re just starting in their process. Three years and then we’ll see where it goes with those.”

No. 66: Forward Nathan Behm

The 6-2, 202-pound winger finished his season with 31 goals and 35 assists, good for fifth in scoring in the WHL.

Doneghey said that like last year’s third-round picks, “we knew there was a value (but) we weren’t going to chase (it) in the second round. But if he was there, it was worth a shot.”

Behm isn’t as strong a skater as, say, Oliver Moore, but “he can score — that’s his calling card,” Doneghey said. “I wouldn’t’ be surprised if he gets 45, 50 (goals) in Kamloops this year. He’s got a brain, so he can play with smart players. Sometimes it goes in and out a little bit. That’s why he was in the third round.”

Like West, Behm stands out in another sport. In August, he won the under-17 division at the Amateur Long Drive Canadian Championships in Edmonton at 327.9 yards.

“I guess (it) translated pretty good (to hockey) with the power aspect,” Behm told Chicago reporters via Zoom on Saturday. “I’m not really too into it. It’s just something I do on the side and don’t really train for it. But I’m just naturally gifted at that part.”

NHL Central Scouting said Behm’s “skating has improved over last year (and he) carries the puck more than a season ago and shows some speed and quickness to elude checkers. … The puck follows him around, particularly close to the net where he manufactures chances.”

Behm sees himself as a smart, skilled winger, though he plans to work on being more explosive.

“I bring a dual threat, goal scoring and playmaking,” he said. “So I have a lot of offensive upside, and I’m big as well.”

No. 98: Forward Julius Sumpf

The Hawks went for size again early in the fourth round with the 6-1, 190-pound German. Sumpf, 20, was No. 4 pick Caleb Desnoyers’ linemate with the Moncton Wildcats and played center for Germany in the world juniors.

“Big guy, can skate well,” Doneghey said.

Sumpf put up 26 goals and 39 assists in the regular season for Moncton and exploded for 10 goals and six assists in six playoff games to help the Wildcats win the QMJHL championship, ending a 15-year drought.

“He just plays a power, hard game,” Doneghey said. “I love the fact that he’s going to Providence (College). The way Nate Leaman coaches, they’re a match made in heaven. He plays that direct, hard game.”

No. 98: Forward Parker Holmes

Rinse and repeat: The Hawks picked up a winger who checks in at 6-3 and 222 pounds from the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs, where he’s a teammate of Hawks prospect Nick Lardis.

Holmes, 18, is a left-handed shot with a scant resume.

He had just one goal and no assists and a minus-8 rating in 21 games for the Bulldogs and just three goals and seven assists in 51 games the previous season with the Central Canada Hockey League’s Kemptville 73’s.

“We set the world on fire, I guess, because everyone was looking at his stat line,” Doneghey joked. “He had a shoulder surgery in November, same surgery that (Hawks prospects Roman) Kantserov and (Marek) Vanacker had.”

The Hawks won’t be looking for Holmes to light the net ablaze as long as he brings the heat in other ways.

“We wanted to continue to get bigger and we wanted some guys who had an element — hardness, toughness — and Parker certainly fills that role,” Doneghey said.

No. 162: Defenseman Ashton Cumby

The 6-5, 216-pound native of Bonnyville, Alberta, has the markings of an enforcer from the back end. He had 102 penalty minutes in 68 regular-season games for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds and averaged 2.2 penalties in the playoffs.

He totaled three goals and 11 assists in the regular season and postseason and didn’t score a goal in three previous WHL seasons with three teams.

Doneghey said Cumby had nine fights this past season and 13 the season before.

During a fight in March, Cumby knocked Tri-City Americans defenseman Terrell Goldsmith unconscious, causing the game to be suspended and Goldsmith to be hospitalized, then released.

Doneghey acknowledged that Cumby “has holes” in his games, but asked, “Did you watch him on video?”

“We felt the need to get a little bit harder, tougher, maybe to protect some of our skill guys,” he continued. “You ask a couple of players, ‘Who’s the toughest guy in the Western Hockey League?’ … Every kid in the Western League was, ‘Cumby, Cumby, Cumby.’”

No. 194: Goalie Ilya Kanarsky

The 20-year-old Russian checks in at 6-3, 192 pounds and had a 22-8-1 record, .938 save percentage, 2.24 goals-against average and four shutouts in 34 games for AKM Tula.

Hawks goaltending scout Dan Ellis kept watch of Kirill Zarubin, a 2024 third-round pick by the Calgary Flames and Kanarsky’s competition, and noticed that “Kanarsky kept outplaying him this year.”

“Again, with the Russian, you have his rights forever,” Doneghey said. “So a 6-3 goalie, that size, just kind of see where it falls.”