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The Chicago Blackhawks are now a quarter of the way through the 2024-25 NHL season, and things are still difficult for the rebuilding squad led by former first-overall draft selection Connor Bedard.
With a record of 7-12-1 through the first 20 games, the Blackhawks are only one point better than the struggling Nashville Predators for last place in the Central Division.
The untimely injury to top Blackhawks defenseman and ice-time leader Seth Jones, who is out for the next four weeks with a foot ailment, certainly isn't helping things.
And despite the addition of multiple new figures on the roster to help insulate Bedard and surround him with additional talent, it hasn't exactly translated into wins and points in the standings.
What are some of the biggest surprises and disappointments for the 2024-25 Blackhawks as we approach Thanksgiving?
Blackhawks' biggest surprise to start 2024-25 season: Ryan Donato
Scoring has been a challenge for the Blackhawks this season, but one player who has had no issue finding the back of the net is forward Ryan Donato.
After managing just 12 goals in 78 games played last season, Donato has already scored eight goals in only 18 games during the 2024-25 campaign.
At this pace, he'll easily surpass his previous career-high of 16 goals, a mark he set during the 2021-22 season while playing for the Seattle Kraken in their inaugural year. And his hot start to the year hasn't gone unnoticed by his teammates, via The Chicago Tribune.
“He’s on fire right now,” Bedard said of Donato earlier in November. “It’s fun. Such a hard worker. You guys obviously don’t see behind the scenes, off the ice, but just like how much time and effort he puts into everything.”
Donato explained that his hard work during the summer is paying off, and is happy to let the process play out.
“I put in a lot of work this summer,” he said. “I came in with no expectations, right? I came in with the expectation that I was going to just work my hardest and give it my best. That’s all you can really do. Everything else kind of finds a way to seem to figure itself out in that way.”
If Donato continues on his current trajectory, he'll reach 33 goals scored in 74 games.
Blackhawks' biggest disappointments to start the 2024-25 season: Connor Bedard and Taylor Hall
But while Donato has impressed so far, two of Chicago's most important pieces are still struggling to find consistency. Unfortunately, the face of the franchise is stuck in the doldrums of a sophomore slump.
Through 20 games, Bedard has lit the lamp only three times, and he's now gone 11 games without a goal. Additionally, the young Blackhawks star admitted that his drought was causing a lack of confidence.
“It’s been a tough stretch, and you just feel like you don't have it or whatever, and you lose a bit of confidence and it just kind of goes on,” Bedard said. “Obviously, it's been a little bit (of a stretch) for me. So, like I said, just kind of keep going in every game, trying to be the best me and hopefully things got to come.”
As if the struggles from the most important piece of the offense weren't enough, forward Taylor Hall has also seen his production go ice-cold. One of the veteran leaders of the team (and a former first-overall Draft selection in his own right in 2010 with the Edmonton Oilers), he's managed just two goals and four assists in 19 games, and was even recently designated a healthy scratch by coach Luke Richardson.
As Hall put it, he took it as an opportunity to re-set, via NHL.com.
“(Richardson) thought it was best for me to just reset, and so that's what I'm going to do,” Hall said. “There (are) some things in my game that when I'm not playing well, Luke and the coaching staff obviously just want me to do a bit better, so that's really it.
He missed the majority of last season due to injury and was being counted upon to produce. So far, that hasn't happened; there's still plenty of season left for that to turn around.
The Blackhawks hit the ice this afternoon against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center, the venue Blackhawks fans will always remember where the team ended their lengthy Stanley Cup drought in 2010.
