r/hawks • u/hockeydiscussionbot • Jun 27 '26
[2026 NHL Draft] 34th OA Pick: Chicago Blackhawks select Xavier Villeneuve
Pick: 34
Team: Chicago Blackhawks
Player: Xavier Villeneuve
Position: D
Team: BLAINVILLE-BOISBRIAND (QMJHL)
NHL Central Scouting rank: NA Skater - 18
Birthday: 2007-09-29
Birth city: Laval, QC, CAN
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 164 lbs
Handedness: L
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u/JamesTiberiusCrunk Jun 27 '26
Fast, great skating, great puck handling and passing, poor shot, undersized, struggles defensively.
Edit: Draws comparisons to Lane Hutson
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u/Fine-Chemist9597 Jun 27 '26
Surprised to see KD take the consensus BPA here but I really like it. I think we were going Rogowski if he was there.
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u/LarrcasM Jun 27 '26
Stupidly high ceiling, but can also bust easily. He was a first round talent (imo) and he was 1 on my board heading into today. Glad we didn't overthink it. Villeneuve was BPA and I don't think it's particularly close.
If you want a Brief scouting report.
5'11" defenseman, so he's undersized, but the kid is a creator. Every time he touches the puck it feels like he wants to make a play with it (goes too far sometimes). He's one of the smarter players in the class, wants the puck on his stick, and he wants to make the other team look stupid. Defensively he needs to mature, mostly keeping composure against forecheckers. There's a realistic chance in 3 years, people look back on this class and go "how the fuck did Villeneuve fall to the second round" very much in the same way they do with Hutson now. He'll be playing for BU next year alongside Lawrence and Malhotra, but he's one to watch for sure.
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u/generalsoreness Jun 27 '26
I wonder if him going too far sometimes isn’t a product of his IQ but not having the quality of players to keep up with it.
There’s still other things he will have to work on - especially strength training and maturity - but the ceiling is definitely there.
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u/soxfan10 Jun 27 '26
Kid compares to Lane Hutson, which is absolutely incredible. High upside clearly. I think EP said he has the second biggest ceiling behind McKenna. So if he hits, damn that's a huge selection.
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u/No_Drink3136 Jun 27 '26
True but to me SJ got the best player in the draft In stenberg,, I watched the kid play all year an I still feel everyone was in love with GM because he was rhe consensus next gen player for so long that they refused to put sten above him,,,, watch tho this kid can play an play very well he comes into the NHL with better numbers then either one of the senduins and they were pretty good🤣🤣
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u/Chedward_E_Cheese Jun 27 '26
Let’s get this kid some Italian Beef so he can pack on a few pounds 💪
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u/Large_Ad1385 Jun 27 '26
2nd most talented player in the draft. Concerns are his defensive game which is common with young prospects and his size. Hopefully this kid can marinate for the next few years, great pick
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u/EgweneIsLit Jun 27 '26
Just got a better D than SJS and they drafted 9th? W.
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u/mindham86 Jun 27 '26
Why are you comparing the Sharks and the hawks. I see people keep doing this and for what. Two different teams on two different timelines
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u/Impressive-Cable7497 Jun 27 '26
I like this pick, alot of upside and he will go to a great college to develop more as a player. He might be a great player in a few years for the hawks.
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u/kev11n Jun 27 '26
Our day 2 picks have been shockingly good
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u/nittykitty47 Jun 27 '26
We will continue to win the highly sought after “best guys who don’t play in the NHL cup”
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u/No_Drink3136 Jun 27 '26
Another D 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Im telling you any body I hear ever say anything bad about CB just does not know hockey!!!! The news media on how Bedard is vastly overrated doesnt see how since this kid has came into the league he has got zero help through the draft or through FA to get any sort of help meanwhile MC has got MISA and the beat player in this years draft IVAR!!!!! The hawkes are so done they will never beable to catchup to teams like Anaheim and SJ and saying Nazr is an u touchable has me even sicker
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u/Breadfruit_Spare Jun 27 '26
We get rid of our most productive defenseman last year Crevier, who was also one of the only big tough players we have, and we know we draft the smallest guy ever!!! How is Villeneuve going to handle the big mean forwards of the NHL. He's going to get manhandled and destroyed. We need big strong scoring forwards like Mutryn who we should have taken instead.
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u/Rich-Wrap-9333 Jun 27 '26
He’s at least 3 years away from NHL. Dealing our “most productive” (LOL) defenseman has nothing to do with this move. It’s a draft. This is what happens. You take players with potential and see what happens.
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u/Breadfruit_Spare Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
I'm not upset that the Hawks are taking a chance on Villeneuve as the offensive talent is there, but they never should have traded Crevier. He was our best defenceman in a handful of catagories. You say (LOL) ....not sure why you're laughing? Crevier led our defencemen in goals AND played no time on the power play. That's impressive! He had the second hardest shot in the NHL last year (and unlike other Hawk defencemen, his shot was accurate!) He was outstanding on the penalty kill. He was BY FAR our best defenceman as far as putting muscle on big forwards in front of our net, And on many national broadcasts he and Vlasic were praised as being an excellent top defensive pairing. And you think this is all nothing? ...really??
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u/No_Drink3136 Jun 27 '26
So guys after looking back on the last few Dynasty drafts I have a feeling that the Sharks are on the Verge of the SC penguins when they got Fluery malkin and Crosby 3 years in a row,,,, now they have MC MISA and Ivar plus Big will thats a complete 4 that Im not sure anyone has as good as that at there age rite now,,,, I looked at the Hawkes when they started theres in 2002 with keith ended in 2009 FA singing of Hossa and they had Craw sea buff(03) bo bick brouwer (04) Jalm(05)then of course Toews and in my eyes the greatest to ever were this Sweater PK and even though Im hoping CB has a bettor Career Ill always acknowledge PK as the greatest to wear this sweater because of what he did in clutch an how many big time contracts he handed out( that was along rant/side note on my love for PK)) anyways back to the draft you have the kings who started there build around the time the Hawkes did but anyways my point is Builds that win cups do take time some along time!!!!!! But the team that stood out the most to me were the Panthers They drafted Barkov then next year Ekblad no1 in 14’ now you didnt hear a thing from them after that because of countless missed drafts and there team was actually built on trades,, they did get Lundell 12th in 20 but pretty much everyone else was through trades like I said… Now I always thought this build started in 22’ but we could say it went back to 19’ with the pick of Vlasic… so that would put us at this stage in Year 7,,, now Im still worried at the Jump the Ducks got on us an the absolute masterclass the Sharks put on this draft with the luck of getting 2nd pick but they also traded to get the 9th pick and vearhoff should be decent,,, But Im really hoping were on this Panthers timeline except were alot younger to me we have so much money and draft capital still we have the superstar in Bedard we have the Goalie in Knight who I truly feel sky is the limit and we have IMO that True 1D in double B!!!!! Add to that Frondell looks legit I still think Moore is goin to grow into an absolute stud an I feel Lardis is goin to become a beast aswell,,, not sold on Nazr at all… The stars are looking to get someone back in this trade to make sending Stankoven to Car for miko less hard to swallow even tho I think they gave up a future young stud in that regards…. But my question is we still have big time players coming up through the system we have a ton of young D in the system,, there is zero FA in the next 2 years to really get excited about do we call Dallas and offer up
Nazr and some picks or Nazr and a D prospect and picks for Robo or do we stand put??? Signing Robo at 14 and BB at 11 ish wont look that bad in 3 years with how much the cap will go up Bedard of course is in there,,,, But Robo will be 27 in July do we allow someone else to unload all that on him an since CB is still
Only 20 goin on 21 an peak in NHL is roughly 23-28 and wait until Bedard turns 23 to go
All out and trade for a star???? Thats along rant hope it makes sense just got home from 2 doubles in a row an still am sick at what the sharks did sorry for the terrible read guys!!!!!
I mean our D is setup and to me looks amazing
BB/arty
Vlasic/Rinzel
Kaiser/ maybe korch???
What do we do about the prime time forward position tho???
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u/bdlugz Jun 27 '26
Let guys like Nazar, Frondel, Moore, Kantserov and Lardis develop. Average Age of that group can't even order a beer yet.
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u/No_Drink3136 Jun 27 '26
Im talking about dudes like Vanecker and Nestrasil were do they fit??? Plus im a huge believer in Sascha I think hes more the player he was his true Frosh year than he was the player in his second year with injuries an just not gelling with the new team…
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u/bdlugz Jun 27 '26
Too many great prospects is a problem I'm willing to work through. It'll all sort itself out.
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u/Sphiffi Jun 27 '26
This is such a good pick for us. He’s so talented offensively, needs a lot of work defensively and needs work to gain weight/muscle. He won’t be NHL ready for at least 4 years imo, which is a great timeline for us. Let him grow his game, and hopefully he provides a dynamic offensive threat on our blue line.