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Who can the Chicago Blackhawks target in the NHL draft? What positions are deepest? A Q&A with scouting director Mike Doneghey.

You’d think someone running his first NHL draft might tread lightly, but the Chicago Blackhawks’ new director of amateur scouting sees it as an opportunity for a big I-told-ya-so.Come one, come all, Hawks trolls. Mike Doneghey welcomes you.Advertisement“I hope we see the fruits of (Thursday’s draft) in three or four years (and) I’m able to pull up how many people bashed me the day after the draft, saying, ‘Who’s this guy they’re picking? Who’s that guy they picked? He stinks, he can’t do this,’” Doneghey told the Tribune. “Then in four or five years, I want apologies.”In fact, he has a venue for his dream scenario.Advertisement“I want to do like a public address announcement at the United Center. Give me the microphone,” Doneghey said with a laugh. “I just think it would be funny. … I love (that) the fans are dialed into it, the chatter and who we might pick. I love that, I think it’s great. The fan base is awesome.”Doneghey is no stranger to rabid fan bases.He grew up in Boston’s West Roxbury neighborhood playing goalie and rooting for the Bruins’ Ray Bourque, Cam Neely and Andy Moog.He boasts — in his thick Boston accent — that his current residence in North Attleboro, Mass., is “eight miles from the mecca of Foxborough and Gillette Stadium.”But Doneghey is just as surprised as anyone that he’s in charge of drafting the next generation of Hawks, though it’s a bittersweet turn of events for him. He credits predecessor Mark Kelley for giving him a chance, though Doneghey got this opportunity because general manager Kyle Davidson fired Kelley in early March.Said Doneghey of being named amateur scouting director: “It was like season tickets to the Red Sox. Like, you can’t get season tickets to the Red Sox until somebody passes away. People just don’t give them up.”[ Column: Chicago Blackhawks’ clock hinges on Alex DeBrincat’s status — and trading him could have huge repercussions ]Doneghey said he was excited and struck by how Davidson presented the opportunity to him.Advertisement“He was like, ‘Hey, when you’re going into a rebuild, one of the most important positions is the guy who’s drafting the players,’” Doneghey said.“Now, it’s not just on me — I’ve got a great staff, guys in management, they watch games — so I wasn’t like, ‘Oh, my god.’ Then a couple days go by and you’re like, ‘OK, we’ve got to build this thing up, how do we do it?’“Then you start thinking if you do have success, then your name’s there for being a part of building a championship team.”Doneghey spoke to the Tribune about the Hawks’ draft strategy and some little-known aspects of the job. The following has been edited slightly for brevity and clarity.Who do you think the Hawks can target in the second round?Owen Beck, Paul Ludwinski, Ryan Greene, Cam Lund, Noah Warren (are) players we would be looking at in the second round who might be available. … All of them are very good skaters and busy players and have a good motor.AdvertisementCam Lund is a 6-2 winger that’s going to Northeastern (University) who can really skate. He can score, he’s got a little bit of the whole package — size, skating, competitiveness.Owen Beck and Paul Ludwinski are just about 6 feet, two-way centers … very competitive, very smart players.Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson takes questions after an event at the United Center Concert Club on May 16, 2022. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)Ryan Greene is a little bit taller, 6-1½; he’s going to Boston University. He’s fast — he’s not like a super burner — but he’s a very good skater, very powerful skater. He’s competitive and has a very good brain.Noah Warren on defense, he’s a 6-5 right shot. Got to have a little bit of upper value as a right-shot defenseman, especially with his size. He’s super athletic, can really skate, ultra-competitive. Erik Černák-type of player comes to mind.David Goyette, I wouldn’t be surprised if he leads the OHL in scoring next year. He’s got a high IQ, super skill set as far as hands, one-on-one passer. And it’s really not an issue (but) he’s not a burner and there’s a little question if he is going to be a center or a wing going forward. But it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s gone in the first 25 picks.Where is the draft deep and where is it deficient?AdvertisementI think it’s deficient in the amount of franchise or generational players. There are some good players. I don’t know that there may be defining franchise players right now, i.e. the (Cale) Makars, (Nathan) MacKinnons, Patrick Kanes. Where it’s deep is in the international pool. There could be 15 to 17 players — and by international I mean Europe and Russia, not Canada — that could go in the first round. … The international pool of players this year is very deep. There are quite a bit of centers that are really good on faceoffs. … You might be a bottom-six guy, but if you’re that good on faceoffs, when the team goes to two centers in the last minute of the game to defend the lead, you might be one of the guys on the ice.There are a lot of young defensemen in your pipeline. Does that affect your draft strategy or do you stick to the best available?You have to go best available because the defensemen we’ve drafted the last few years projected to be middle pairing to bottom pairing who can really skate and defend and they’re all big. So if there’s a couple of defensemen that are puck-moving defensemen that can be on a power play, maybe be in a top pairing, then just because we’ve been taking defensemen the last few years doesn’t mean we’re going to eliminate that type of defenseman.Why do you prioritize speed over skill, size, etc.?AdvertisementYou look at the final series of the year, Tampa and Colorado, it was as fast a hockey series as I’ve (ever) seen. If you can play fast and you can play fast down the middle, it forces your wingers, they’ve got to play fast. … If you’re fast down the middle, you’re fast up front, you get in on the forecheck quicker, you’re able to backcheck quicker, just your overall team speed is brought up to another level. …If you’re a defenseman and you can play fast — and I think (coach) Luke (Richardson) alluded to it — when you defend, it’s not just sitting in the zone for two minutes and blocking shots. He made a very good point when he said that you want to be able to defend fast. If your defensemen can skate fast, they can get pucks fast and they can transition it faster up to the forwards. You could take away — if you’re a fast-skating defenseman — time and space in the neutral zone and stop the rush before it even enters the zone. There might be some players in this draft and in next year’s draft that might be really fast, their skill package is just a little bit behind as far as development. Maybe you have to work a little bit on the shot or a little bit on the hands or a little bit on the passing, but if the speed is there you can work on the other stuff.Is it better to have a high pick next year to get into the Connor Bedard sweepstakes?There is some franchise (potential) at the top of the draft next year where you can build around them. (Along with Bedard, there’s center) Adam Fantilli, who’s from (the University of) Michigan. (Matvei) Michkov, the winger out of Russia — they’re the three that come to mind.[ 5 things we learned about Luke Richardson, including why you might see the new Chicago Blackhawks coach in purple ]Someone else will (emerge). We don’t know who it is but historically you have your eye on these players a year in advance. And some of these good players, with a summer of strength and maturity, they become really good players. It wouldn’t surprise me that two or three other names are pushing in that conversation as well.AdvertisementWith you and Kyle Davidson running the draft instead of Mark Kelley and Stan Bowman, how will things be different?I guess the difference is we haven’t experienced it yet. I haven’t had the GM look at me and say, “Hey, we just traded this pick for two later picks and now we’re not picking.” You never know how you’re going to react until you’re in that particular situation.Kyle hasn’t sat in that chair. (Associate GM) Norm (Maciver) is the one who has sat in that chair as an assistant GM when he was here with Stan. I’d like to think I’m prepared for a lot of the scenarios that we’d come across, whether we get more picks, trade up or trade down, we lose some picks. Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.It’s my first time in the decision-making role. I’ve been in drafts since 2010, different seats at the table as you get different positions, but it’s the first time the eyes will be on Kyle and me.After the draft, what is your life like as someone who works in the scouting world?(Doneghey checks an app on his phone) … 731,000 air miles. That’s just on United. I also fly Delta, Lufthansa, JetBlue. Not quite sure what those would be. My Marriott app: 1,373 nights. Divided by 365, that’s 3.76 years in the last 12 years that I’ve been in a hotel room. AdvertisementYou obviously spend a lot of alone time. And again it goes back to your support staff at home because you’re on the road a lot. (Doneghey’s “support staff” is wife Lori and children Hayley, 23, Christian, 21, and Casey, 19.) Sometimes, it’s six, seven, eight days at a time. Especially when you have younger children, to be taken out of your home, at times it’s easier for some of us to be on the road to get away from diaper changing and the rides to sports and the parent-teacher meetings. So you’ve got to have a strong home life.Do you feel pressure because the Hawks are in a rebuild?I don’t know if pressure is the right word. There are a lot of pressures in life greater than picking hockey players. I look forward to the challenge of being an integral part of helping build the Blackhawks into a Stanley Cup contender again. I’m really happy that Kyle and Norm and Jeff (Greenberg) trust me in this position, and our amateur staff, to lead the charge. I get it, how good we want to be. … I was part of the Blackhawks’ three Stanley Cup teams. I know what it is to win, I know what that feeling is, so I want that feeling back again. If it’s pressure, then so be it.

Sports

‘They hit them hard’: Chicago White Sox allow 5 home runs in an 8-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins

Michael Kopech allowed five home runs in his first 14 starts this season.The Minnesota Twins hit four of their five homers Tuesday off the Chicago White Sox right-hander.AdvertisementThe Sox couldn’t recover from the long balls, falling 8-2 in front of 18,566 at Guaranteed Rate Field.“It’s not a good day, but unfortunately that’s how baseball goes sometimes,” Kopech said. “Made some bad pitches over the heart of the plate and they hit them hard. I’ve just got to be better than that. That’s something that’s easy to fix from start to start. It’s just executing pitches better.”AdvertisementJose Miranda and Jorge Polanco hit two-run homers and Max Kepler and Alex Kirilloff had solo home runs against Kopech. Kirilloff also hit a two-run homer against Vince Velasquez for the Twins, who have taken the first two rounds of a critical three-game series for the Sox.The Sox, who are in third in the American League Central, trail the division-leading Twins by 6½ games. The Sox are 0-5 against the Twins this season.Kopech allowed six runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and four walks in 4⅔ innings.[ [Don’t miss] Column: A tragic event in Highland Park became just another day at the ballpark — and in America ]“Obviously it’s a big series, we want to beat these guys, so it’s tough right now,” Kopech said. “But I think everybody is looking forward to turning it around, however it comes. The effort and energy has been there from the guys on and off the field in the clubhouse.“As a starter, I’ve got to do my part to set the tone and that goes a long way. It’s not how we want to play, especially the first two in a series against these guys, but we’re capable of turning it around.”Kopech got out of a bases-loaded jam without allowing a run in the first, striking out Kirilloff to end the inning.Kepler homered with two outs in the third. Kirilloff singled leading off the fourth and Miranda followed with his two-run homer, making it 3-0.Polanco hit the first pitch in his fifth-inning at-bat over the right-field wall for a two-run homer. Kirilloff made it back-to-back for a 6-1 lead.Advertisement“I had some close misses in the first inning,” Kopech said. “I was happy with some pitches I threw. They were just being really patient with me and I was being a little too aggressive at the time. Changed my approach later in the game, being reactive to what they were doing, and then I started throwing more strikes and then they changed their approach to me.“They seemed like they were playing proactively out there and I was playing a little reactively, which is never a good spot. I’ve just got to set the tone a little earlier.”Kirilloff’s two-run homer in the seventh against Velasquez made it 8-2.[ [Don’t miss] White Sox’s costly mistake on the bases puts fundamentals in the spotlight: ‘We’re a work in progress’ ]The Sox had 10 hits, but their only extra-base hits were doubles by Yoán Moncada and Josh Harrison. A run scored on Moncada’s double in the fourth.“First of all, (the Twins) had pitches to hit and they didn’t miss them,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “That’s to their credit. From our side, I don’t like talking about home runs because you get that in their minds and we’ll do less, not more.“We just want to be good hitters. When we hit the ball well — and we centered a few of them today, (Andrew) Vaughn hit two line drives — when we center the ball more consistently, we’ll get production we need, whether it’s home runs or runs scored or whatever.”AdvertisementHarrison — who pitched a scoreless ninth — had two hits. His single in the seventh was his 1,000th big-league hit.As of today, there has been 22,734 total MLB players. Only 5.8% of them have reached 1,000 career MLB hits. Today, Josh Harrison joins that exclusive list of players.Congrats to client @jhay_da_man on joining some of baseball’s best in achieving this rare feat! #msmfamily pic.twitter.com/yofytkSiHz— MSM (@MSMsports) July 6, 2022

“Truly a blessing,” Harrison said of the milestone. “We put on this uniform and try to play as long as we can and never set out for individual accolades. But sometimes it’s nice to take a step back and appreciate the work I’ve put in to know I’ve been here this long.“It’s something I don’t take lightly. I’m definitely grateful.”Reese McGuire had three singles. But little else went right for the Sox, who will try to avoid being swept Wednesday.“At the end of the day it’s not about who is on the other side,” Harrison said. “We have to take care of what we do in here and that’s showing up every day and keep plugging away.”

Sports

Kyle Hendricks leaves his start for the Chicago Cubs after 3 innings with right shoulder soreness

MILWAUKEE — Something seemed off with Chicago Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks early in his start Tuesday night.The veteran is known for his command and doesn’t light up the radar gun, but when Hendricks threw a sinker clocked at 83.8 mph in the first inning, it was notable. He exited after the third because of right shoulder soreness.AdvertisementHendricks went 12 days between starts in early June because of shoulder/arm fatigue, describing it then as similar to a dead arm that pitchers can experience during spring training. He wasn’t able to get adequately loose, prompting the layoff, though he avoided the injured list.Hendricks looked good coming off the extended break. In his four starts leading up to Tuesday, he allowed nine runs in 22⅔ innings — six runs coming in one start — with 25 strikeouts and three walks.AdvertisementHowever, Hendricks’ average velocity during Tuesday’s start against the Milwaukee Brewers was 1 mph slower than his season mark. Right-hander Matt Swarmer started warming up in the bullpen during the second inning and again in the third. Manager David Ross made a mound visit to chat with Hendricks after a two-out walk in the second. Swarmer replaced Hendricks to start the fourth.The Brewers scored two runs and recorded two hits off Hendricks, who threw 69 pitches, including 29 in the first. He issued two walks, struck out four and allowed a home run by Rowdy Tellez that gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead in the first.

Sports

4 fans injured by bullet fragments during Oakland Athletics postgame fireworks show, police say

OAKLAND, Calif. — Four baseball fans were injured by bullet fragments from outside the Coliseum while attending a postgame July 4 fireworks show, Oakland Police and the Athletics said Tuesday.None of the injuries were life-threatening, police and the A’s said.AdvertisementBecause the A’s 5-1 victory over the Blue Jays lasted just 2 hours, 27 minutes, it wasn’t dark enough for the fireworks show to start. Fans from a season-high crowd of 24,403 were allowed onto the playing field just after 9 p.m. local time.“The Oakland Police Department (OPD) is investigating firearm-related injuries that occurred on July 4, 2022, after 9:30 p.m., in the 7000 block of Coliseum Way,” police and the A’s said in a joint statement.AdvertisementPolice initially were notified of a possible shooting victim inside the ballpark, and officers located three fans struck by bullet fragments “from what appears to be celebratory gunfire occurring throughout the city of Oakland,” the statement said. An additional victim walked into a hospital.“I think if it wasn’t Fourth of July, it would be more alarming,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said before the series resumed Tuesday night. “Any time during Fourth of July, I can remember this growing up, it’s never safe but people tend to do things that aren’t in the ordinary. That’s firing weapons in the air in terms of celebration.“It’s really unfortunate that we had that happen here in the Coliseum and there were people injured. I know we’ve reached out to those people.”An investigation is ongoing and Oakland Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland offered a reward up to $20,000 for information leading to an arrest or arrests.Police reiterated their joint efforts with the A’s and the team’s security to keep everyone attending games in the venue safe.“From a safety standpoint, I think the Coliseum is a safe environment,” Kotsay said. “It’s just unfortunate that on a holiday with the fireworks show that people were injured.”