Blackhawks defenseman Louis Crevier waited seven hours to get drafted. Now he’s an NHL regular

A handful of NHL players have waited through more picks to get drafted than towering Blackhawks defenseman Louis Crevier did in 2020.

But none have waited through more hours.

“I’ll remember that [draft] day for a long time,” said Yanick Jean, Crevier’s junior coach with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens.

Crevier went undrafted in 2019, his first year eligible, but he went into 2020 feeling much more optimistic about his chances. The circumstances were atypical, though, because the COVID-19 pandemic had pushed the draft from June to October and from in-person to virtual.

For everyone in the hockey world, the second day of the 2020 draft — the second through seventh rounds — was excruciating because it took so long to complete.

For Crevier and everyone in Chicoutimi, a small city about 130 miles north of Quebec City, it was an unforgettable marathon of anxiety.

The Tuesday night before, Sagueneens forwards Dawson Mercer and Hendrix Lapierre had been chosen in the first round by the Devils and Capitals, respectively. That left Crevier as the team’s one remaining draft hopeful Wednesday.

Jean dismissed Crevier from practice early so he could change into a suit and start following the picks when the draft resumed at 11:30 a.m. The rest of his teammates and the coaching staff joined him after lunch. They sat in suites in Chicoutimi’s small arena, watching the draft broadcast on the video board.

“I didn’t expect to get drafted [right away] in the second round,” Crevier said. “But they had something set up for … well, mostly for me.”

Some players floated in and out, but most of the team stuck it out in those suites for the entire afternoon.

“We waited long hours,” Jean said. “I was shocked that he wasn’t drafted earlier, because we’d been telling teams that we were so confident that — at one point — he was going to play in the NHL. … We were not in the same box, but now and then, we would go over and tell him, ‘Keep your head up.’ He had no control.”

Said Crevier: “I was feeling a bit stressed, not getting drafted when everyone’s there.”

Finally, around 6:30 p.m. — after seven hours of watching and waiting — Crevier’s teammate and longtime friend Xavier Labrecque got a notification and screamed. Moments later, Crevier’s name appeared on the board. The Hawks had just traded picks with the Canadiens and made him their seventh-round selection, No. 188 overall.

“It’s been a long night, but the wait was rewarded at the end,” Crevier said later in a Zoom call with Hawks reporters.

Crevier is the only player taken in the 2020 seventh round currently on an NHL roster, although five others have made NHL appearances.

Long journey

Crevier’s unique draft experience is perhaps fitting, considering the uniqueness of his attributes and his path to the NHL.

“He’s even admitted this himself: He has always been a late bloomer,” Hawks interim coach Anders Sorensen said.

When Chicoutimi drafted 17-year-old Crevier into the QMJHL, Jean recalls him only being 6-2. By training camp, he had sprouted to 6-5, and he continued to grow. By the time the Hawks drafted him, he was 6-8, as he remains today.

“His first year in the [QMJHL], we had a big injury to a key defenseman,” Jean said. “[Louis] was playing as our sixth or seventh ‘D.’ All of a sudden, we put him on the first pairing, and we won like nine in a row. Once he took possession of his body, his progression went out the roof.

“Even though he did not necessarily have the foot speed, once he understood how to use his stick, he was unbeatable one-on-one. Even if someone would beat him up ice, he could always reach out with his range to put his stick on the puck.”

Crevier’s growth in Quebec earned him an entry-level contract, but he played sparingly in his first AHL season in Rockford in 2022-23. Sorensen, the IceHogs’ coach at the time, noticed Crevier moved well for such a massive guy but still had many kinks to iron out.

And iron them out he has, proving himself to be one of the organization’s most-improved players over the last three years.

His 24 NHL appearances last season provided valuable experience, but he struggled analytically. He made his 30th NHL appearance of this season Wednesday against Mercer’s Devils, and he has fared much better, scoring three goals and developing chemistry with 6-6 Alex Vlasic as perhaps the league’s tallest pairing.

“His positioning is good,” Sorensen said. “He kills plays defensively really well. The next step for him is being more comfortable with the puck and making that next play after he gets a stop.”

With so many talented, young defensemen in the Hawks’ organization, Crevier’s future is nowhere near cemented. He’ll be a restricted free agent again this summer, just like last summer.

But there’s no question he knows how to overcome steep odds, and he has a lot of people rooting for him.

“You honestly can’t get more friendly than him,” Mercer said. “With that size, you’re not expecting it. But he’s a great guy. It’s great to see someone like that make his career and his dreams come true.”