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The Chicago Blackhawks have faced a challenging transition, missing the postseason for several consecutive years. Yet, few sympathize with them given their dominant run of three Stanley Cup titles in seven seasons, along with two additional trips to the Western Conference Final.
With former franchise cornerstones Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane gone, 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick Connor Bedard has taken center stage as the Blackhawks' top talent. Although Bedard earned the Calder Trophy as the NHL's best rookie in 2023-24, he couldn't carry the Blackhawks to playoff contention.
However, after a busy offseason from GM Kyle Davidson, Bedard now has plenty of support.
Chicago was one of the more active teams in free agency, signing multiple veterans including forwards Tyler Bertuzzi, Craig Smith, Pat Maroon, defensemen Alec Martinez and T.J. Brodie, and goaltender Laurent Brossoit. They also traded for forward Ilya Mikhayev, and brought back 2015 Stanley Cup winner Teuvo Teravainen; he spent the last several years with the Carolina Hurricanes.
But will this be enough to give the Blackhawks a realistic shot at the postseason?
Projected Blackhawks roster
Any realistic postseason hopes for Chicago hinge on the performance of Connor Bedard, entering his sophomore season after winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. Bedard’s health will be key, as he’ll need to avoid injuries like the one that sidelined him for several games last season.
But thanks to the aforementioned additions made to the roster, Bedard will be further insulated and will have less pressure upon himself. According to Davidson, he was focused on adding valuable depth to the lineup that they didn't enjoy last season thanks to injuries, via the New York Times.
“When you’re signing players in free agency right in the start of the UFA season, it’s just a different level of player, so that’s exciting,” Davidson said in July. “I believe we’ve got a position where we can be responsible with development and we can create roster competition, accountability, raise the level of our NHL team, but also protect against things like we saw last year.”
“Look, I’ve been in Chicago for over 10 years, and I’ve never seen a rash of injuries like that, so you don’t plan on that,” he continued. “You don’t sign a team around that. But we went through it last year, and we were not the deepest team to begin with and we became a really shallow team in the middle of that year with all those injuries.
That’s not fair to the veterans, not fair especially to the young players, having to step in and play such heavy minutes that early in their career. That’s not healthy for their development. That’s not what we want.”
The Blackhawks three roster position player groups breaks down as follows:
Forwards: Connor Bedard, Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen, Taylor Hall, Lukas Reichel, Philipp Kurashev, Jason Dickinson, Nick Foligno, Ilya Mikheyev, Ryan Donato, Andreas Athanasiou, Craig Smith
Defensemen: Seth Jones, T.J. Brodie, Alex Vlasic, Alec Martinez, Kevin Korchinski, Connor Murphy
Goaltenders: Petr Mrazek, Laurent Brossoit, Arvid Soderblom
Blackhawks 2024-25 season outlook
The Chicago Blackhawks will make history as the first official regular-season opponent of the Utah Hockey Club, facing off at Delta Center on October 8. Utah is entering its inaugural NHL season after relocating from Arizona and their former identity as the Coyotes.
Following that, the Blackhawks will return to United Center for their 2024-25 home opener against the San Jose Sharks, who won the NHL Draft Lottery and selected Boston College standout Macklin Celebrini.
For Windy City fans of the NHL's annual Winter Classic, they'll be making their way to historic Wrigley Field on New Year's Eve to see the Blackhawks take on the rival St. Louis Blues. This marks the fifth time overall that the Blackhawks have participated in the outdoor event and the second time it's been played at Wrigley Field.
Chicago will then end their season with back-to-back road matchups in April against the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens.
What the Blackhawks' playoff picture looks like
Despite the reinforcements to their roster, the Blackhawks aren't expected to make a serious push for the playoffs. According to The New York Times, the team has just a 3% chance of securing a postseason berth, with a 57% likelihood of finishing last in their division for the second consecutive year.
Their projected point total for the season is 77, a 25-point improvement from last year but still far short of playoff contention. The good news is that they'll be a much deeper team, and are laying the foundations for what management hopes will be an eventual run toward the postseason.
