The month of October is in the books for the Chicago Blackhawks. Out of 11 games played, the team has a rather dismal record of 3-7-1, which is currently tied with the Nashville Predators for last in the league. But all is not lost. The Blackhawks are a team in the middle of a rebuild, and rebuilds take time and patience. While this record is even worse than it was this time last season, the Blackhawks do seem to be making some strides in the right direction. Here are four observations from the Blackhawks’ first month of the 2024-25 season.
Blackhawks Competitive in Most Contests
One thing I’ve noticed that’s much different than last season is the Blackhawks have been competitive and had a chance to win in almost every game so far. With the exception of the 6-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, the Hawks were only down by one goal in the third period (if you don’t count empty net goals) in all of their losses this month.
For the most part, the Blackhawks didn’t look like an inferior squad in these losses either, aside from the 4-2 loss to the Dallas Stars. The Hawks are obviously a more talented team than last season, and they’re working on gelling as a group. Slow starts have been a problem, or just being sleepy for stints where a few mistakes cost them. But that’s going to happen with any team, especially one with new personnel where players are trying to get to know each other’s tendencies. Some players are also learning new systems.
At this point, I think all these losses are getting into the players’ heads. They’re going to need to dig deep to get out of this slump.
On a positive note, if you look at the Blackhawks’ three wins, they dominated those games, winning by a 5-2 margin against the Edmonton Oilers and the Colorado Avalanche, and 4-2 to the San Jose Sharks (Oct. 17).
All in all, the Blackhawks increased competitiveness is a promising trend. If they can keep this up, it’s eventually going to lead to more wins.
Line Combinations Still a Work in Progress
The Blackhawks are still trying to figure out their optimal forward line combinations, as they will all season long. But quite frankly, I’m having a hard time making sense of some of the changes head coach Luke Richardson and his staff have implemented. But let’s try to make some sense of it all.
Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen have been attached at the hip since training camp. Their chemistry was immediate; they’ve combined for five goals already. But they’ve both been relatively quiet the last handful of games (Bedard with two goals in the last six games and Teravainen with zero points in the last six games).
Even so, they’ve been working hard and creating chances. But Richardson promoted Ryan Donato, who’s leading the team with six goals, to the top line in practice on Friday (Nov. 1), and demoted Teravainen to the third line. I’m all about rewarding Donato, but I’m not sure about separating Bedard and Teravainen. Although, Bedard and Donato did find some success together last season, so maybe there’s something to this.
Meanwhile, Bedard and Teravainen (now Donato) have had numerous teammates on their left wing, including Ilya Mikheyev, Nick Foligno, Lukas Reichel and now Philipp Kurashev.
The second line of Taylor Hall, Kurashev and Tyler Bertuzzi was the only trio Richardson didn’t mess with for eight full games. He had Andreas Athanasiou centering that line when Kurashev was a healthy scratch in the loss to the Vancouver Canucks (that didn’t work out too well). Now that Kurashev has been moved to the top line, Foligno is centering the second line.
While some may argue, why Foligno?, he’s winning faceoffs at over a 61% clip, and he’s a veteran player that knows how to acclimate to his linemates. It might not be a long-term solution to second line center, but it seems like a good stop gap for now. Although, Hall and Bertuzzi are both off to slow starts this season. Hopefully that will change.
Related – Should the Chicago Blackhawks Be Concerned With Tyler Bertuzzi’s Slow Start?
Moving on to the third line, this is the Blackhawks’ checking line, centered by Jason Dickinson. He’s been joined by Foligno, Joey Anderson, Mikheyev, and most recently Donato (now Teravainen). Truthfully, all the players that have played on this line have done well. The Blackhawks have a plethora of gritty depth forwards (not sure how Teravainen fits in here!). With Dickinson leading the way, there can be some variation on this line with similar amounts of success.
Finally, the fourth line has mostly been comprised of veterans Pat Maroon and Craig Smith on the wings, and Reichel at center. Donato and Athanasiou have taken some turns there, but mostly it’s been Reichel.
A bottom-six position seems like a strange place for the finesse player that Reichel is, but he’s gotten much better at forechecking and being aggressive in this role. One reader mentioned that perhaps Richardson is grooming the German native for a top-six center role down the road. Could be. Or perhaps it’s just where there’s room in the lineup right now. Either way, Reichel and Smith have combined for four goals, so something appears to be working!
We can’t forget that Athanasiou has been out of the lineup for the last four games and only suited up for five contests altogether. Anderson has been out for the last six games and has also only played in five contests. Do these two deserve to be out of the lineup? Well, this is what happens when there’s a plethora of forwards available, and everyone is healthy at the beginning of a season. But it is driving the level of competitiveness, so it’s a good problem for the team to have. Not so much for AA and Anderson, though.
Blackhawks Defense is Better
The defensive corps just looks so much more structured this season. For the most part, the Blackhawks have bought into the system and are working together as a group. Seth Jones is still a workhorse, leading the team by contributing in all situations while averaging 25:41 minutes of ice time per game. To provide some extra balance, Jones and Alex Vlasic were split up, with Alec Martinez up with Jones, and Vlasic on the second pairing with Connor Murphy. Even after Martinez suffered a groin injury, a much-improved and more steady Wyatt Kaiser has admirably stepped into his place on the top pairing with Jones.
Vlasic is picking up right where he left off from a stellar 2023-24 campaign, and adding some offense to boot! His contributions earned him my 2nd star for October. Murphy is healthy, and doling out the hard hits! Oh, and by the way. Murphs also has six assists already. Murphy and Vlasic combine for a solid pairing.
Making up the third D-pairing, 21-year old Nolan Allan made his NHL debut this season and has played in eight games. He even has two assists under his belt. Per Coach Richardson, “he’s providing solid play” and “We like everything about him right now”.
Related – Blackhawks’ Seth Jones Starting to Look Like Himself
T.J. Brodie…well, Brodie has admitted it’s been tough getting used to a new system. The Blackhawks utilize a zone-based defensive scheme versus the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brodie’s former team, who use a man-on-man scheme. Brodie is not exactly known for his speed, so puck retrieval has mostly been left to his partner, Allan (another positive reflection on the rookie).
Some would argue Brodie should be benched in favor of Isaak Phillips, who has been the extra man in reserve with Martinez is out. It’s true it would be much better for the 23-year-old’s development to either be playing with the Blackhawks or the IceHogs. But it’s also pretty hard to bench a 34-year-old veteran on $3.75 million two-year contract. Brodie does have a lot of experience on his side, so hopefully he’ll acclimate soon.
Power Play Needs Improvement
The Blackhawks power play is just ok, currently right in the middle of the pack at 16th in the league. They’ve converted seven times out of 36 tries for a 19.4% success rate. Teravainen and Bertuzzi are credited with two goals apiece, while Foligno, Jones and Kurashev each have a goal on the power play. Bedard is responsible for four primary assists.
For some reason, the Blackhawks always seem to struggle on the power play. This is tough to understand this season though, based on their improved personnel. They’ve been leaning on a top unit of Bedard, Teravainen, Bertuzzi, Foligno and Jones, with Reichel replacing Foligno for the last few contests. As you can imagine, everything here goes through Bedard. But this unit tends to be a little too pretty. The idea is fast passes to open up shooting space. But lately, the group just seems to be passing too much and looking for the perfect play; not shooting enough.
The second unit has mostly been comprised of Kurashev, Hall, Smith, Maroon and Vlasic at the point. This group tends to be a little dirtier and more aggressive in their approach. But they also don’t usually have a lot of time out there. Also, most teams wouldn’t have players like Smith and Maroon (two fourth liners) on their power play.
But the idea this season is to give players more specific roles instead of asking them to jump around to different assignments. For example, Dickinson isn’t on the power play because Coach Richardson wants him to focus on defending the opponents’ top lines, as well as contributing on the penalty kill.
But it might be time to change things up a little to give the power play more of a spark. Per Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, Donato (leading the team with six goals) might be moved up to the top unit.
I’m sure the Blackhawks are looking for more production from the power play in November. After all, a power play goal can make the difference between winning and losing a game.
Related – Blackhawks Notebook: Hall, Levshunov, Reichel, 2nd Line Center & More
The Blackhawks are looking to put a disappointing October behind them and start with a fresh slate for the month of November. But despite a disappointing record, there were positives to build on. They’ve been competitive in so many contests. Now they need to find a way to win more of those games. The players are more comfortable in their roles and with each other. Some tweaking of the lines and pairings could be in order. The defensive structure is sound, and something to continue building on. And perhaps the power play can break through with more success.
12 challenging games are on tap in November, starting with a matinee against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, Nov. 2. Hopefully the Blackhawks can pull off some more wins this month!
