Checking in with Chicago: 41 thoughts on the Blackhawks after 41 games

A lot has already happened through halfway through the Blackhawks season.

Luke Richardson was fired as coach .

Connor Bedard has had a rollercoaster of a season.

Tyler Bertuzzi was woeful and now hes been amazing .

The goaltending was the opposite.

Overall, though, nothing has been shocking about the season.

The Blackhawks arent far away from what people thought theyd be.

Another top-three draft pick obviously couldnt hurt the rebuild.

Here are 41 thoughts on the Blackhawks from the NHL club to attendance to prospects to whatever else.

1.

Are the Blackhawks better than last season? Technically, they are after 41 games.

They were 12-27-2 with 26 points at this mark last season.

Theyre now 14-25-2 with 30 points.

Its not the jump most people probably expected.

Oddly, the Blackhawks had the same amount of points in the first and second halves of last season and finished with 52 points.

If the Blackhawks can do slightly better than where they are now through the next 41 games, they could realistically make a 10-to-15-point improvement over last season.

Advertisement 2.

Pat Maroon had a specific goal for the last 41 games.

My biggest thing is hopefully we can win over 20 games in this 41-game thing, he said.

I think we can do that.

Its just a matter of if we want to do that and play the right way.

If we dont have our A game, how can we figure out how to get our B game or C game or we can sneak games out or were making the simple play? Were shooting ourselves in the foot way too much.

We got to get that.

We got to find the fine line.

We have a stretch where we play good and then we have a stretch where its awful.

3.

Anders Sorensen does seem to be making a difference as an interim coach.

Richardson was 8-16-2 this season when he was fired.

Since Sorensens taken over, the Blackhawks are 6-9-0.

Its a small sample size and some of the games have been more lopsided under Sorensen than Richardson, but the overall results speak for themselves.

4.

From what Ive heard, GM Kyle Davidson and company arent going to assess Sorensen simply based on record.

Its going to be about player development, whether the young players are getting better, how he communicates to the team and how the team responds to him on and off the ice.

5.

Of course, Bedards development is a major part of that equation.

So far, Sorensen has that in his favor.

Under Richardson, Bedard had five goals, 14 assists and 19 points in 26 games.

In 15 games under Sorensen, Bedard has six goals, 12 assists and 17 points.

Bedards confidence is back and hes on a career-best eight-game points streak.

6.

Bedards game against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday felt like one of the best of his career.

He didnt go off for a hat trick or five points, but he was solid in all areas of the game.

He had a goal and an assist and had another goal negated.

He and his line drove possession.

He was smart with the puck and made the simple play when needed.

He also had a positive day in faceoffs, and thats been his biggest weakness.

Advertisement 7.

Sorensen spoke Thursday about Bedards play since he came in as coach.

I think a lot of credit goes to him, Sorensen said.

The way he demands the puck now, the way his routing is now, hes getting more pucks in motion.

He just looks confident in his ability.

Hes a unique player.

I think theres not a lot of players like him: not just his skill set, but the way he thinks the game.

He finds ways to solve situations differently than a lot of other players, so a lot of credit to him.

8.

Can we at least stop talking about Bedard being a bust? Lets see if hes generational over time, but hes certainly going to be more than fine.

Hes currently on pace for 22 goals and 52 assists this season.

Patrick Kane , Joe Sakic, Mark Messier, Mike Modano and Denis Savard had similar numbers as a 19-year-old.

9.

Might Bedard have a consistent linemate for the next few years in Tyler Bertuzzi ? They werent sensational together early on, but theyve figured it out lately.

In five-on-five play together, they have a 47.86 Corsi percentage, 45.37 expected goals percentage and a 50.0 actual goals percentage, according to Natural Stat Trick.

The fact theyve been on the ice for 10 goals for and 10 goals against is a positive sign.

As good as Philipp Kurashev and Bedard looked together last season, the Blackhawks were outscored 52-28 with them on the ice together last season.

Bertuzzi and Bedard seem to be building something.

10.

As a final note on Bedard, this is what his tracking numbers from Corey Sznajder look like for the season: 11.

It has been a tale of two seasons for Bertuzzi.

Whether the Blackhawks would keep him for four years was part of the conversation early in the season.

In his first 27 games with the Blackhawks, he produced five goals and five assists.

Hes since flipped the script.

In his last 14 games, hes had nine goals and three assists.

His 32.14 shooting percentage over the last 14 games has certainly helped.

Hes now on a 28-goal pace.

Advertisement 12.

Kurashev has to be the biggest disappointment of the Blackhawks season.

He went from starting the season as the second-line center to getting another run with Bedard to a healthy scratch under Richardson to a healthy scratch under Sorensen.

Once, it seemed like he might be part of the future and we were talking about what his contract would look like this summer.

Now itd be surprising if the Blackhawks re-signed him.

Kurashev has the teams worst goals percentage at 14.29 in five-on-five.

Hes been on the ice for four goals for and 24 against.

T.J.

Brodie is next with a 28.89 percentage as hes been on for 13 goals for and 32 against.

13.

The Winter Classic was neat.

Thats all I got for that one.

14.

Ilya Mikheyev has the teams highest goals percentage at 50.0 in five-on-five play among players with at least 10 games.

Hes been on the ice for 19 goals for and 19 goals against.

Hes also second in expected goals percentage at 49.23.

Ill admit I was a bit wrong on Mikheyev.

Hes been better than expected.

15.

Mikheyev has obviously won over Sorensens trust and is playing on the top line.

I knew a little bit about him as a spectator watching him in Toronto obviously, then watching him a little bit last year in Vancouver, Sorensen said.

You know, strong on his skates.

Hes a good skater, but hes got a heavy stick, wins a lot of those 50-50 battles that we talk about.

Also, his ability to hang on to pucks in traffic within contact and still make plays out of those situations, its something you notice when you watch him, but you notice it more every day here.

16.

The Blackhawks were an older team to start the season.

Thats changed over the course of the season.

Their roster now includes Bedard, 20-year-old Frank Nazar , 21-year-old Nolan Allan , 22-year-olds Lukas Reichel , Wyatt Kaiser and Colton Dach and 23-year-olds Louis Crevier and Alex Vlasic .

Advertisement 17.

Dach and Nazar were the obvious players to be called up from the Rockford IceHogs this season.

Kevin Korchinski might be worth a look again later, but the Blackhawks have plenty of defensemen right now, and the same goes for Artyom Levshunov.

Landon Slaggert and Samuel Savoie have shown promising signs, but theyre probably in the NHL mix next season.

Cole Guttman is probably the other player who deserves another NHL look this season.

He has 15 goals and 31 points in 33 games.

Hes on the older side at 25, but it wont hurt to give him another NHL chance.

18.

The IceHogs are about a .500 team in the AHL this season.

Theyre 14-15-3-1 and in fifth place in the Central.

Since Mark Eaton replaced Sorensen, the IceHogs have gone 6-5-1-1.

19.

The Blackhawks attendance is about on track to match last season.

The Blackhawks are averaging 18,789 this season through 19 home games and finished last season at 18,836.

(The Winter Classic is not counted toward their average attendance).

Itll be interesting to watch if the Blackhawks can sustain that average over the next few months.

With where the Blackhawks are in the standings, it might become more challenging to draw sizable crowds on weekdays.

Their two worst-attended games last season, both in the 16,000s, came in January and February.

They havent had a game less than 17,118 this season.

20.

What a difference a year has made for Louis Crevier.

Last season, he had a 30.78 expected goals percentage and the Blackhawks were outscored 23-6 with him on the ice.

This season, his expected goals percentage is 48.56 and hes been on the ice for four goals for and seven goals against.

21.

Whats changed for Crevier? Just confidence experience, too, Crevier said.

I think we have a better team than last year, so that helps.

I dont know.

I think its the development I wanted, maybe bring something new to the game.

Of course, its not perfect every night, but I think its been good so far.

Advertisement 22.

The Blackhawks goaltending was one of the teams greatest strengths early in the season, but it fell over the last month-plus.

The Blackhawks had the seventh-best save percentage at .926 through 23 games.

Since Dec.

1, the Blackhawks are second-last with a .868 save percentage in the last 18 games.

23.

Arvid Soderblom has had a couple of rough games lately, too, but he has to be one of the biggest surprises of the season.

The Blackhawks signed another goalie because he was so unreliable last season.

But given another chance due to Laurent Brossoit s injury, Soderblom has been so much better.

He has a .905 save percentage in 18 games this season, after managing .879 in 32 games last season.

24.

December was a tough month for Petr Mrazek .

He allowed 24 goals and had an .821 save percentage in six games, which decimated a lot of his overall numbers.

The one positive for him is still his quality starting percentage.

According to Hockey-Reference, .547 percent of his starts were quality last season, and hes at .542 this season.

That says a lot despite his play last month.

Hes still giving the Blackhawks a chance when hes in net more often than not.

(For reference, the league average is .544.

Soderblom is at .563.) 25.

According to Evolving Hockeys goals above replacement model, Mikheyev has been the best overall player for the Blackhawks at 6.3 GAR.

Hes followed by Vlasic (6.1), Bedard (5.2), Bertuzzi (5.2), Connor Murphy (4.4), Jason Dickinson (3.8), Nick Foligno (3.8) and Seth Jones (3).

26.

Jones did look better in Wednesdays win against the Avalanche.

His analytics still arent great, but hes been on the ice for considerably fewer five-on-five goals lately.

The Blackhawks have outscored teams 5-1 with Jones on the ice in the last three games.

27.

There are probably a handful of players in the race for prospect of the year so far.

One nominee would be Roman Kantserov, whos been lighting up the KHL as a 20-year-old.

He has nine goals and five assists in his last nine games.

For the season, he has 11 goals and 11 assists in 22 games.

Hes signed in the KHL through the 2025-26 season, and it doesnt sound like theres any chance he comes over earlier than that.

GO DEEPER What's behind Blackhawks prospect Roman Kantserov's impressive play lately? 28.

The next nominee would be defenseman Sam Rinzel.

Hes becoming everything the Blackhawks hoped he would be when they drafted him 25th in 2022.

As a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, hes been one of the best defensemen in college hockey.

He has eight goals and 14 assists in 22 games.

Hes expected to turn pro after the season.

Advertisement 29.

Forward Nick Lardis has to be in the conversation, too.

He leads the OHL in goals with 33 in 33 games, plus 28 assists.

Hes signed with the Blackhawks for next season and could join the IceHogs depending on how far his team goes.

30.

Honorable mentions would be Levshunov, Aidan Thompson, Dominic James, Jack Pridham, Sacha Boisvert, Alex Pharand, Martin Misiak , Ryan Greene and Oliver Moore.

31.

To be fair, Moore is a tough one to grade right now.

His offense probably hasnt been where it was expected to be as a sophomore in college, but hes still influencing the game with his speed, forechecking and playmaking.

He helped the U.S.

to the gold medal at the World Junior Championship.

Moore, Rinzel and Greene are expected to play in the NHL this season.

32.

A few players have made notable improvements from Richardson to Sorensen.

Defenseman Nolan Allan is one.

Heres what his tracking data looked like before the coaching change and after.

33.

Theres no news on CHSN, which is obviously bad news.

It still sounds like CHSN is holding out hope for Comcast, but there hasnt been anything to report.

34.

The Blackhawks are fourth in the NHL with an 83.9 penalty-kill percentage.

They were 27th at 75.8 last season.

Their penalty-kill ice-time leaders are Mikheyev, Jones, Vlasic, Dickinson, Foligno, Murphy, Kaiser and Teuvo Teravainen .

35.

The Blackhawks were probably hoping for a little more from Teravainen, but hes still contributing in a lot of different ways.

Hes bringing stability to Nazar and Dachs line lately.

Hes on both special teams.

His production is also about the same as it was with the Carolina Hurricanes .

His goal numbers arent as high, but hes on pace for 52 points after having 53 last season.

36.

The Blackhawks power play ranks 13th in the league with a 23.1 percentage.

They were 28th last season at 16.6.

Bertuzzi leads the power play with six goals, followed by Teravainen (5) and Bedard (4).

Bedard has a team-high 17 points on the power play and Teravainen is second with 13.

Advertisement 37.

In five-on-five play, Bedard has a team-high 19 points.

Ten of his 12 assists in five-on-five play have been primary ones, tied for 17th in the league.

Taylor Hall (16 points) and Ryan Donato (14) are next up in points.

38.

Bedard and Nazar have to get better at faceoffs to be long-term centers in the NHL.

Both players numbers improved with positive percentages on Wednesday.

Bedard is now at 32.5 percent.

Nazar is 38.2 percent.

The Blackhawks can live with both being in the 40s.

39.

Vlasic is taking that next step.

Heres what his tracking data looks like this season: 40.

My best guess is that the Blackhawks will move Hall and Donato at the trade deadline.

If Maroon wants to go, he can probably be traded, too.

Just dont expect a ton in return for anyone.

41.

The Blackhawks attention (and probably mine) will turn to evaluating the players they could select with their first-round picks in the 2025 draft.

It still looks like itll be between the Blackhawks and the San Jose Sharks for top odds at No.

1.

The only issue with picking first this season is that there doesnt appear to be a definitive best prospect.

(Photo of Ilya Mikheyev and Connor Bedard : Kamil Krzaczynski / Imagn Images).

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