It’s been a long road for the Chicago Blackhawks, this first season where they’ve fully committed to rebuilding. General Manager Kyle Davidson has been very transparent about his plan, but it’s been a very long time since this team has been in rebuilding mode. Very few fans remember, or ever existed, when the Blackhawks were really bad back in the day. Again by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
Now things are complete. The Black Hawks said goodbye to these two faces of the franchise, the legends that led them to three Stanley Cup championships. Instead, they are looking for new faces who will hopefully lead them to the promised land again. But these things take time, and they have to get ugly before they can build back up again. We are only at the beginning of this process. It is easy to lose hope or be apathetic.
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But if you look at this season, you’ll really find a number of positive changes that give us hope for the future. If you can look at the big picture, be patient. Well, a lot of patience. But I get ahead of myself. Here are five positives from the Blackhawks’ 2022-23 season.
Young player growth and development
With no focus on winning, it takes some of the pressure off. It allows young, inexperienced players to find their stride. They can afford to make mistakes without worrying about getting scratched right away. Instead, they are almost encouraged to experiment, maybe even blunder a bit. Provided they learn and build on their mistakes. After all, you cannot become an experienced player unless you have the opportunity to play. That’s what a lot of this season has been about for the Blackhawks.
Six players have made their NHL debuts with the team this season. Among them, it seems that names such as center Cole Guttman, defender White Keizer, and goalkeeper Jackson Stober will be part of the future of the organization.
The Blackhawks have also used six players with fewer than 40 NHL games under their belt; Including leads Lukas Reichel and Alex Vlasic, along with netminder Arvid Soderblom. It’s possible that all three will be with the Blackhawks on the other side of the rebuild. Another group of six young men with fewer than 100 NHL games. Finally, there are Mackenzie Entwistle and Philip Korashev. Both have been in the league for only three seasons, with 126 and 191 NHL games.
That’s a lot of young guys with a lot of room to grow, a whole lot of raw talent and potential. Getting the chance to play in this ‘lost’ season certainly wasn’t lost on them.
Not everyone will get out, or they will probably be traded to other teams for more assets. But for others, this season was the first step towards a successful career with the Blackhawks.
Strong set of shots and predictions
Speaking of trades, Davidson has been very busy lately making trades and collecting draft picks and projections. Sure, you could argue about some of the odd moves. But if you look at the overall picture, the Blackhawks have an impressive stock of future assets.
after completing 30y this chapter, the organization has an 11.5% chance of receiving the first pick in this year’s draft, which is projected to be wonder kid Conor Bedard. They have 11.5% odds of winning the No. 2 pick, and can only drop to the No. 5 overall pick.
On top of that, the Blackhawks have 10 more picks in this year’s draft on June 28-29, including one more first-round pick, four second-round picks, and two third-round picks. Davidson also made a Great job posting his draft; As of now, he is scheduled to receive four first-rounders, four second-rounders, and three third-rounders in 2024 and 2025 combined.
Add this to the young prospects already in the system, like last year’s first-rounders Kevin Korczynski, Frank Nazar, and Sam Renzel, and the future looks bright for the Blackhawks. It will be exciting to watch the next few years unfold in the way of footage and prospects.
Blackhawk establish an identity
Yes, the Blackhawks haven’t been so good this season. In general, they were very low in established talent. But watching it was surprisingly fun. This is due to their level of competition. They knew they were getting the better of them most nights. But that didn’t stop them from playing hard and giving it their all.
This has become their identity this season. The mantra seems to be, “We may not be as good as you, but we will make you pay to beat us.” The Black Hawks have become the team the other team dreads facing. They were strong at forward checking and back checking, just plain physical and tough to play against. They also never give up, leading them to win some surprising games, or end up losing by a narrow margin.
This is an excellent mindset and a strong foundation for the team to build around. These new-look Blackhawks caught a lot of teams by surprise this season. The idea is to maintain that tenacious attitude and perseverance going forward, even as more skills and talent are added. In the end, they can become a very formidable enemy. After all, there are really no short cuts. You need more than just talent to be competitive. You need to work hard and play hard, and have the right attitude too.
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The new core of the Blackhawks
Toews and Kane are gone. We all know Kane went to the New York Rangers. Furthermore, on April 13, Davidson announced in a press conference that they would not re-sign Toews for the next season. Here was the area:
I don’t know if this necessarily puts the past behind us. More than that, somewhat clearing the deck to allow organic growth of young players into leadership roles and offer this new era of Blackhawks players the same opportunity that Toews and Kane provide. [Duncan] Keith, [Brent] Seabrook were all featured when they reached the league.
When a player like Jonathan or Patrick is in your locker room, you respect them. You just let them handle the driving and there isn’t a lot of development opportunity there. So now we think it was a good thing for this next group to let the leaders emerge… In the dressing room, be a voice rather than defer to someone who’s been here for a long time. It gives them a chance to step up and be the new leadership group for the franchise.
Now, there are many who think this is just a lot of bullshit. That the Blackhawks could have built around Toews and/or Kane with them as veteran mentors. But there is some logic to Davidson’s reasoning. Defenseman Connor Murphy is now the tallest player on the team. He’s been with the Blackhawks for six seasons and has established himself as a captain in his own right, donning an alternate captain’s jacket. But this was his reaction when asked about becoming the next captain of the Blackhawks.
Connor Murphy didn’t think it would be # Blackhawk Next captain. pic.twitter.com/Gg5uDKqYC0
– Joe Brand (@Joe_Brand1) April 14, 2023
There is only respect and deferment when it comes to Toews and Kane. which they totally deserve. Both are legends in their own right. players on the team He was Look at them instead of making their own decisions. This can hinder their development as leaders themselves. It may not be a popular decision, but it is the one that was made.
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Who will be the new core? Well, he could easily be the guy drafted by the Blackhawks in the upcoming draft. May be one or a few top leads who will soon be joining the team on a permanent basis. Meanwhile, veterans like Murphy, Seth Jones, Tyler Johnson, and Jared Tenordi will lead the way with strong, but not quite overpowering voices like Toews and Kane.
Artistic Director Luke Richardson
I saved the best for last, because it cannot be emphasized enough what this guy really did here in Chicago. Maybe he wasn’t a tank trainer. We saw this through the foundation and identity that Richardson helped build, as noted above.
But there’s no question that he’s the coach to rebuild, and it’s quite possible he’s the coach that can bring this franchise back into contention. Richardson has a commanding aura about him that is impossible not to disrespect. He was a player himself, so he has great insight into what players need. He also came to Chicago with a large number of previous coaching experience.
From what we saw in his first season with the Blackhawks, Richardson coaches with a positive mindset and encouragement, not with anger or by instilling fear. He kept things simple, applying a solid, easy-to-understand structure. Every player knew what was expected of them this season, and Richardson seemed to treat everyone with fairness and consistency. He did not underestimate anyone’s role. In fact, he emphasized the value of each player, and the importance of playing as a team. It really seemed like he was getting the best out of everyone.
I think Richardson has all the right tools to lead this team through rebuilding and getting back into the competition. I was deeply impressed by his first season behind the bench, and I can’t wait to see what he does with next year’s team.
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It’s been a tough season for the Blackhawks. But it was also fun and inspiring in many ways. The first year of the rebuilding commitment is over. Demolition has been completed, and spare building lots are now in progress. It may not be as fun as winning trophies, but the progression and development is there. That’s all we can ask for.