Eddie Olczyk, the former Blackhawks star who has been working the television studio for several years long after he retired from his career as an NHL player, was on a podcast and giving his take on how he feels the Blackhawks are handling this rebuilding phase and where he feels it's going to go.
Having played two stints with the Blackhawks during his career, he was drafted third overall in the 1984 NHL draft by the Blackhawks. He has had an impact on the team on and off the ice. In his first three seasons, he was a dynamic player who gave the Blackhawks steady offence and high penalty minutes. After playing for five other organizations, he returned to the Blackhawks to finish his career in 2000.
During his interview, he felt that acquiring the first overall pick is a «huge» feat to overcome. He also mentioned that he felt that general manager Kyle Davidson is doing a great job handling this task and with his knowledge of the plan as well he feels the Blackhawks are going in the right direction.
Olczyk, having been a head coach in the NHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins for two seasons, explained that he went through this experience of having to trade all of their assets to position themselves to improve their chances to get the number one pick which happened to be Sidney Crosby.