The Chicago Blackhawks must be loving what they’re seeing from one of their prospects, Nick Lardis. This 19-year-old 2023 third round pick has been absolutely lighting up the OHL this season and has joined some incredible company with his goal scoring abilities.
Lardis became just the eighth player in OHL history to score 70 goals in a season, and there have been so many great and talented players to play in that league. He is only the third player to reach the 70 goal mark in the last 35 seasons, joining John Tavares (72 goals) and Eric Lindros (71 goals).
Lardis has 70 goals and 113 points in 61 games this season for the Brantford Bulldogs. He started his OHL career on the Peterborough Petes and played there for a season and a half before being traded to the Bulldogs where he immediately broke out and hasn’t looked back.
The reason I can see why Lardis slipped through the cracks all the way to 67th in the 2023 draft was him scoring 37 goals and 65 points in 69 games in his draft year. While his second half was extremely better in Brantford, he didn’t put a full season together until after the Blackhawks drafted him.
Sometimes players who can produce well in the CHL or other junior leagues before turning pro can’t always transfer it over. With this goal scoring ability, it’s hard to think that Lardis isn’t going to figure it out fairly quickly once heading to the AHL and then the NHL hopefully soon after. He is a great piece that the Blackhawks have at their disposal.
Lardis still has a few more games to reach 73 goals or higher and is already well past finishing at over a goal-per-game pace.
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