Blackhawks tiers of holiday joy and misery — from Frank Nazar to Connor Bedard to CHSN

Its the season of joy, but theres been very little of it to find with the Chicago Blackhawks lately.

Theyve lost five straight games, theyre dead last in the league, their coach was just fired, and the only people more frustrated than their top players are their fans, who cant even watch the games.

Yes, its pretty bleak these days.

Advertisement But its not all bad.

Really, its not.

Scattered among the many lumps of coal under the tree are a few brightly wrapped presents.

You just might have to wait a bit to open them.

With that in mind, and with A Christmas Story playing virtually on repeat on channels you can actually get, here are our tiers of Blackhawks holiday joy (and/or misery).

And remember, theres always time to get back on the nice list.

Tier 1: The Red Ryder BB Gun Nazar provides hope in a season in which there hasnt been a whole lot of it.

Is it false hope or actual hope? Thats the question only time and games played in the NHL will answer.

But for now, fans can at least be excited the 20-year-old Nazar is showing signs in Rockford that he could be the real deal.

Hes tied for fourth in the AHL with 24 points.

Over his last 12 games, hes produced seven goals and nine assists.

If he had done anything like this in training camp, he would have stuck in the NHL.

But he didnt, and the Blackhawks opted to take a more patient approach in calling him back up.

Hes expected to be in the NHL this season, and probably sooner than later, but the exact timeline is unknown.

Its a Winter Classic matchup (Blackhawks- St.

Louis Blues ) weve already seen in a Winter Classic venue (Wrigley Field) theyve already used.

But warranted jokes about the Blackhawks outdoor game ubiquity aside, its still always a cool (and cold) event.

At the very least, itll be a welcome break from the monotony of another hopeless season.

The Blackhawks undoubtedly will be drafting in the top 10 for the sixth time in eight years come June.

They very well could have their third straight top-three pick, following Connor Bedard and Artyom Levshunov.

After passing on Ivan Demidov to secure another high-end defenseman last year, the Blackhawks will have their pick of high-end forwards to skate with Bedard for the next decade-plus this time around.

That doesnt exactly speed up the rebuild; if anything, it restarts the clock yet again.

But the prospect pool the Blackhawks are amassing is as deep as any in the league.

Advertisement Of course, Buffalo had 10 straight years of top-10 picks (including a whopping four top-two picks) but hasnt made the playoffs since 2011.

Detroit had seven straight years of top-10 picks and hasnt made the playoffs since 2016.

And theyre both still on the outside of the playoff picture.

So settle in.

This could take a while.

Tier 2: Whoopee, a zeppelin After last season, it was fair to wonder if Arvid Soderblom and Lukas Reichel were even in the Blackhawks big picture.

Both struggled mightily and often looked overwhelmed.

But Laurent Brossoit s knee injury gave Soderblom a chance to redeem himself, and he has run with it.

In seven starts, the 25-year-old has a .919 save percentage with 2.1 goals saved above expected, despite a 1-5-1 record.

Reichel has been largely relegated to a fourth-line role, but hes jelled with veterans Pat Maroon and Craig Smith .

Three goals and six assists is hardly high-end production, but Reichels speed and zone entries remain elite, and he looks like he can be a quality depth contributor at the very least.

Meanwhile, defenseman Wyatt Kaiser closed last season strong after a rough start to the season earned him a lengthy trip to Rockford.

And hes picked up where he left off.

He has the second-best expected goals share on the team (48.08 percent, behind only Nick Foligno s 52.8) and has the best actual goals share (52.63 percent) among Blackhawks defensemen.

He might not have the ceiling that Alex Vlasic , Kevin Korchinski or Levshunov have, but Kaiser has proven he can be a solid second-pair defenseman in the NHL.

You need stars, yes, but you also need quality depth.

And the Blackhawks do have some pieces in place.

How many of the current Blackhawks will be with the team in five years? The only ones youd put money on are Bedard and Vlasic.

Even in the shorter term, that number isnt much larger.

Tyler Bertuzzi in the first year of a four-year contract is a buyout candidate if he doesnt turn things around.

Kyle Davidson can easily walk away from most of the teams contracts.

This season may not exactly be unfolding the way Davidson wants it to, but another high draft pick could help immensely and the prospects outside the NHL have been flourishing.

Advertisement Davidsons rebuild plan has always been tied to drafting and developing.

Bedards development is key, but most of Davidsons eggs are in other baskets right now.

As long as hes given the time by Danny Wirtz to see how those prospects play out, Davidson wont be in a rush.

Its why the Blackhawks have had three first-round picks playing in Rockford for most of this season.

Its why they could have two more there next season.

There is a long line of prospects coming, and Davidson plans to allow them to develop wherever until he believes theyre ready for the NHL.

Whether that plan is a success or failure wont be known for years.

The only way to somewhat gauge the long-term plan is to look at how their prospects are developing.

Sam Rinzel looks like one of the best defensemen in college hockey.

Roman Kantserov scored five goals in his last two KHL games.

Sacha Boisvert is excelling as a freshman at North Dakota.

Marek Vanacker is back from injury and producing.

Oliver Moore has found his offensive groove again.

The future could be bright if Chicago sticks to the plan, but there are no guarantees, and it will be a long process.

Levshunov, 19, and Korchinski, 20, are two major pieces to that long-term plan, and Davidson prioritized their development in Rockford for much of this season.

As of late, the Blackhawks have been seeing the dividends from that.

Korchinskis game has been less chaotic and more offensive.

Levshunov is starting to get a better grasp of what he can and cant get away with and how to play at the pro level.

Anders Sorensen was coaching both before his recent NHL arrival and provided his thoughts on them on Sunday.

Just be in control, Sorensen said of Korchinski.

Defensively be reliable and use his offensive instincts and be up in the rush and even, moving his feet a lot with the puck.

Without the puck, do the right things defensively, be in the good spots.

Of Levshunov, Sorensen said: Big improvements the last couple of weeks.

Just talking to Mark Eaton last night, he felt (Levshunov) was the best D (Saturday) night.

He played really well.

We have to remember hes a young kid that comes over here, lots going on, but his last 2-3 weeks have been encouraging.

...

(Hes improved) his engagement in battles.

When hes utilizing his reach and his size to kill plays defensively and be able to jump up offensively and hes a good passer.

Hes a really good passer.

All those little things.

Korchinski was called up Sunday after Alec Martinez was hit in the neck by a puck on Saturday, but its unclear how long hell stay up.

He will likely play on Monday, but his play and Martinezs and Seth Jones health will probably determine if he remains in Chicago.

Jones was on the ice before Sundays practice.

Advertisement The hyperbole around Bedard has been wild, but probably not surprising.

The problem with him arriving in the NHL with so much hype was that he had so little room for failure.

If he wasnt Sidney Crosby by his second season, some people were going to turn on him.

With five goals and 15 assists in 27 games this season, thats what has occurred.

Fans have expressed varying levels of concern, but there are definitely those who have already deemed him a bust.

He obviously isnt.

Hed be the first to tell you he expected more this season, but there shouldnt be as much worry as there is.

With 0.74 points per game at 19 years old, hes slightly behind what some notable players averaged at his age, but hes also ahead of some notable players.

Hes the second-youngest player in the league now and is playing on the leagues worst team.

He deserves some slack.

To be fair, some of Bedards offensive inconsistencies, especially his scoring, are on him.

There are NHL people who believe he doesnt have the overall skill set to be so individualist on the ice.

Like most NHL players, Bedard probably needs to rely more on his teammates to help him create chances.

Most NHL players arent doing everything themselves.

That point goes hand in hand, though, with the Blackhawks probably needing to put better players around him, or at least giving him consistent linemates to develop some chemistry at five-on-five.

The constant line shuffling isnt doing him any favors this season.

Well see what Bedard becomes, but theres no definitive answer now.

Saturdays game against the Winnipeg Jets was Sorensens first NHL game.

As in, ever.

He never got higher than the ECHL as a player, and hed never spent any time on an NHL staff.

But going back to Derek King as interim coach (a job he held after Jeremy Collitons dismissal), or elevating Derek Plante, Kevin Dean or Jimmy Waite to head coach wouldnt have been the shakeup Davidson wanted.

He wanted a new voice, a new perspective, a new system.

Sorensen, despite his relative inexperience, brings all of that.

His more aggressive forecheck and activated defense were evident on Saturday, and will become clearer with more practice time.

But Sorensens biggest strength has been on the developmental side.

Vlasic and Kaiser both benefited greatly from their time in Rockford, and Sorensen managed to unlock Nazars offense and confidence.

Davidson can only hope he has the same effect on Bedard, who has had one or zero shots on goal in eight of his last 13 games.

The Blackhawks likely will have to have one heck of a turnaround over the next four months for Sorensen to keep the job on a permanent basis, but with Nazar destined for a call-up and Korchinski in Chicago for the time being, a more developmentally minded coach can make a difference in the short and long term.

GO DEEPER Five areas interim coach Anders Sorensen can improve the Blackhawks Tier 3: Football? Whats a football? Bertuzzi has just two even-strength goals.

Teuvo Teravainen does, too.

The Blackhawks are getting outscored 15-6 with TJ Brodie on the ice.

Smiths offense (six goals and four assists in largely a fourth-line role), Ilya Mikheyev s defense (1.82 goals against per 60 minutes) and Maroons positive influence on Reichel have been pleasant surprises, but the big names the Blackhawks acquired all on multi-year contracts have been free-agent flops so far.

Bedard has spent nearly three times as much time on a line with Philipp Kurashev (who has been outscored 18-3 at five-on-five this season) as he has with Bertuzzi, who was ostensibly brought in to be Bedards left wing.

You can put some of the blame at Luke Richardsons feet for refusing to stick with a lineup for more than a game or two, but Bertuzzi and Teravainen havent exactly seized the opportunity, either.

And already, Sorensen has changed Bedards line twice (Mikheyev, of all people, was with Bedard and Kurashev on the top line at Sundays practice).

All of these forwards, plus the return of a healthy Taylor Hall and Andreas Athanasiou, were supposed to give the Blackhawks a lot more offensive punch.

All theyve done is move up from 32nd to 31st in the league in goals per game.

Davidson never guaranteed the Blackhawks would be a playoff team or set a specific target for how many points he expected this season, but he did clearly state he wanted this group to take a step forward and not finish where they had before.

They ended the 2022-23 season 30th in the standings and were 31st last season.

Davidson sought to leave the NHLs cellar and close the door behind him.

Even if they jumped four spots this season, that could have represented a substantial move forward.

There was a 24-point difference between them and 27th place last season.

But after 27 games, theyre far from achieving Davidsons goal.

While theres no doubt theyre more competitive theyve been in 26 of the 27 games in the third period the standings will always present the reality of a season.

And the reality is the Blackhawks have actually taken a step back in the standings.

Theyre in 32nd place.

Theyre already 20 points behind the Central Division leaders.

They have one fewer point than they did after 27 games last season.

Advertisement Even with the coaching change, it doesnt seem realistic that thatll change significantly.

Maybe the Blackhawks will move up a spot or two over the coming months, but it would take something major for them to move higher than they have the last few seasons.

The offense is what it is, despite an assortment of efforts to alter that.

The defense is better, but the teams safe structure helps in that.

The goaltending has probably exceeded expectations, but that was unlikely to keep up, and itll be even more challenging now without Petr Mrazek for some time.

GO DEEPER Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek to miss time after lower-body injury Tier 4: You shot your eye out! If any team should know the perils of irrelevance of slipping into oblivion, to use Jason Dickinsons term its the Blackhawks.

But barely 20 years removed from being less than an afterthought in Chicago, the team is in danger of seeing it happen again.

Its out of sight, out of mind, and far too many fans cant watch the Blackhawks play thanks to the ongoing CHSN fiasco.

Wednesday nights TNT debacle we were told the national broadcast would be blacked out locally, then assured by the team that it would not be blacked out, then it turned out to be blacked out on some platforms but not others, while it was blacked out midgame on some seemed to be a breaking point among the fan base.

Anecdotally, even longtime fans seem to be disengaging because they cant watch.

The crowds are still healthy, with 18,000 to 19,000 filling up the United Center most nights a testament to the size of the fan base the team built up during the championship years but theyve been awfully quiet the last few games.

The Bedard novelty has worn off, and enthusiasm is waning.

How long will fans keep coming if the on-ice product is this poor? The Blackhawks are more competitive this season, but theyre not terribly exciting.

And many of their most tantalizing prospects are still a year or more away.

A lousy team with little short-term hope that people have to pay $20 a month to watch (but not on their actual televisions) isnt a recipe for long-term success.

(Top photo: Kamil Krzaczynski / Imagn Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.