Nolan Allan living out his dream as Blackhawks prospect
SEATTLE (BVM) – The city of Davidson is a small town in southern Saskatchewan with a population just north of 1,000 people. It is a farming community in between Saskatoon and Regina. It is also where Chicago Blackhawks prospect Nolan Allan calls home.
Before the 6-foot-2, 193-pound defenseman was selected in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft, a typical day for Allan consisted of taking care of the animals, running machinery, and of course, playing hockey.
Every day when he was growing up, Allan would go to the local rink and work on his game.
“There was not a whole lot of other things to do than play hockey,” Allan said. “The whole town is kind of hockey crazy.”
That theme also runs in the Allan family. Both of Nolan’s brothers play hockey as well with his older brother Blake at Carleton University and his younger brother Evhan in the SMAAAHL.
“Being able to watch my older brother make his way up the hockey ranks, play junior (hockey) and watch him go through that process was huge,” Nolan said.
Not before long, Nolan himself entered junior hockey being selected as the No. 3 overall pick by the Prince Albert Raiders in the 2018 WHL Draft. And after a couple of years with the Raiders, he had put himself in a good position for the NHL Draft.
In NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings, Allan was ranked as the 40th-best draft prospect.
But the Blackhawks organization saw enough in the Canadian defenseman to select him with the final pick in the first round.
We've selected defenseman Nolan Allan from the @PARaidersHockey!
Welcome to Chicago 🌆 pic.twitter.com/QdzJg8hzGu
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 24, 2021
“You get those expectations put on you and you want to be able to prove the people that drafted you right and the people that think the other way, prove them wrong,” Allan said.
He returned to Prince Albert for the 2021-22 season and helped them get to the playoffs with his 41 points. He rejoined the Raiders this season before he was traded to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Nov. 16 in exchange for three players and six draft picks.
Allan played 162 games with Prince Albert.
Tonight we were able to honour Nolan Allan with a special video tribute during a stoppage in play. A veteran of 162 WHL regular season games in a Raider jersey, it was fitting to welcome our former captain back to a loud ovation with this video pic.twitter.com/MjbpSPmkYm
— Prince Albert Raiders (@PARaidersHockey) January 14, 2023
“After being with that organization for four years, it’s obviously tough leaving that place for sure,” Allan said. “On the other hand, it’s super exciting to be in Seattle.”
Two goals in two games for Nolan Allan!@SeattleTBirds | @NHLBlackhawks pic.twitter.com/d421fWZINY
— The WHL (@TheWHL) January 29, 2023
Allan is one of three Blackhawks’ prospects on the Thunderbirds along with Kevin Korchinski and Colton Dach. If all goes to plan, they will make up the next great core in Chicago.
“It’s been awesome,” Allan said. “Whenever we’re on different teams we’re chirping each other a little bit. Now that we’re on the same team, we get to work towards winning a Memorial Cup.”
But Allan was also teammates with both of them in a different setting: representing Canada at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship. Team Canada went on to beat Czechia 3-2 in the gold medal game.
Nolan Allan gets one through to make it 6-0 for Canada! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/BH4ep8ugCV
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 30, 2022
Allan considers this to be his biggest achievement to date.
“Every Canadian kid grows up dreaming of playing in that tournament,” Allan said. “It was pretty cool to play in that and get the win to make it even sweeter. That was an amazing experience.”
Looking forward, Allan has aspirations of winning another trophy: the Stanley Cup. But in the meantime, he is just focused on making it to the National Hockey League.
“Being able to play in the NHL and have a career in the NHL is a huge dream of mine,” Allan said. “You dream of winning the Stanley Cup once you get there, but you have to play in the NHL first.”
