Hawks might get younger, says manager Dale Tallon

Second of a three-part series on the future of the Blackhawks

The 20-man lineup the Blackhawks used in their season-ending Game 5 loss to Detroit in the Western Conference finals featured 10 players who were homegrown draft choices.

Drafting well and developing their players is what general manager Dale Tallon believes will keep the Hawks not only competitive but an elite franchise for years to come.

Good drafting and having players ready to step into the lineup with entry-level salaries has never been more important for NHL teams in what is now the salary-cap era.

Especially for a team such as the Hawks, who have some huge contracts with more on the way, slotting at least a handful of players into the payroll at around $600,000 is a key to managing the salary cap.

"We might even be younger next season," Tallon said at one point during the playoffs.

Certainly removing 36-year-old Nikolai Khabibulin from the mix would bring down the average age of the team, but what Tallon was referring to was the possibility of one or two prospects cracking the roster at training camp.

Wingers Jack Skille and Kyle Beach could be two of those players, assuming defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson already has a roster sport nailed down - and why wouldn't he following a strong showing down the stretch and in the playoffs.

Skille and Beach could replace, say, Ben Eager and Colin Fraser should the Hawks decide to go that direction for financial reasons.

Beach, the Hawks' 2008 first-round draft pick (11th overall), was just signed to an entry-level contract and will come to camp with a shot to make the club.

"We're in good shape," Tallon said, looking forward. "We have a lot of good players coming up the pike and we're going to continue to develop through the draft and train our people to have success at the NHL level."

The Hawks won't get any immediate help out of this year's June 26-27 draft. They own the 28th pick in the first round and will make seven choices total. Tallon had admitted defense will a draft priority, although that's not to say the Hawks will take a defenseman in the first round.

There also is a need to restock the system at center with both Jonathan Toews and Dave Bolland already in the NHL and prospect Petri Kontiola having been sent to Anaheim as part of the trade deadline deal for Sammy Pahlsson.

"We'll have identified our needs by the time we get to the draft," Tallon said. "What we are going to continue to do is draft kids with the kind of character we have throughout our system."

One area the Hawks might not need to address at this draft is goaltending, where they believe they have four very good prospects in Corey Crawford, Antti Niemi, Joe Fallon and Joseph Palmer.

Crawford and Niemi both are restricted free agents and need to be re-signed. There has been speculation that Niemi could return to his pro career in Finland if he doesn't see a chance to play in Chicago.

While Skille and Beach might be the favorites to win NHL jobs in the fall, here are five other prospects the Hawks like a lot.

• Akim Aliu. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound winger drew mixed reviews in juniors last season, but the Hawks still see him as an impact power forward down the road.

• Evan Brophey. He's a potential third-line checking center with size (6-2, 197) and decent skill.

• Shawn Lalonde. The strong-skating defenseman plays the kind of puck-moving game coach Joel Quenneville likes.

• Bill Sweatt. The speedy left winger, drafted 38th overall in 2007, continues to develop at Colorado College at a pace the Hawks like.

• Richard Greenop. The 6-4, 233-pound winger could be the Hawks' first homegrown enforcer in what seems like ages.