There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding the Chicago Blackhawks of late. We all know the team was supposed to take the next step in their rebuild this season. Better players were acquired over the offseason to make the team more competitive. The idea was to support the young talent, to mentor them and teach them how to be professionals. This was especially true for the 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick, Connor Bedard.
But so far this season, this hasn’t happened. The team is now 7-12-2, which is currently last in the league, heading into Thanksgiving. Over and above that, Bedard is in the biggest slump of his young career. He hasn’t scored a goal in 12 straight games, and he’s only contributed six assists in that span. He’s also gone without even a shot on goal for the last two games. For someone that was almost on a point-per-game pace in his rookie season, this definitely isn’t living up to expectations.
So why is this happening, and what can the Blackhawks do to get him going again? Many pundits and fans alike have pointed to the incessant line shuffling as a reason for Bedard’s woes. So, what should they do moving forward? Let’s explore some options.
The Blackhawks Line Blending to Start the Season
Let’s start by assessing the deployment of the Blackhawks top line, which features Bedard as the center point. Out of the Blackhawks’ 12 losses, head coach Luke Richardson has changed the forward lines 11 times, including Bedard’s line. That’s a lot of movement.
Related – How the Blackhawks Can Help a Frustrated Connor Bedard
At the very beginning of the season, Bedard was deployed with Teuvo Teravainen and Ilya Mikheyev. A good thought process. One of the best offensive new guys (Teravainen), and one of the fastest players on the team (Mikheyev). But that only lasted one game.
Then it wasand Nick Foligno and Teravainen with Bedard. That combination was actually together for seven full games. In that span, the Blackhawks won two contests, as well as taking the game versus the Winnipeg Jets into overtime. But the top line only contributed three even strength goals (two by Bedard and one by Foligno). Teravainen provided the primary assist on Bedard’s goal against the Edmonton Oilers. After the win against the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 17, the Blackhawks lost the next three contests, obviously prompting line adjustments for the top line.
Against the Dallas Stars on Oct. 26, Lukas Reichel was substituted for Foligno on the left wing. One game later it was Philipp Kurashev on the left side instead, which lasted two games. Basically, no production came of either of these new lines.
Against the Los Angeles Kings, It was Kurashev, Bedard and now Ryan Donato. This lasted for three games, and resulted in one even strength goal by Donato (with Bedard and Kurashev assisting) against the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 3. But the Blackhawks lost 4-1 to the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 6, prompting a completely new shake-up of the lines. This is where things got really crazy, with basically an adjustment every game.
The next combo was Taylor Hall, Bedard and Reichel. Next game Foligno was back on the left wing. Oh, next game was Kurashev, Bedard and Teravainen. Next Kurashev, Bedard, and Donato again. Ah, and now we’re up to Bedard, Jason Dickinson and Joey Anderson, who were deployed as the top line on Nov. 19 versus the Ducks. Not only that, but Dickinson centered the line and Bedard was moved to the left wing.
Bedard’s Placement With Dickinson & Anderson
Richardson spoke to the media explaining his thought process of Bedard, Dickinson and Anderson, plus he addressed the plethora of line changes.
Luke Richardson on his many line changes this season, including now playing Jason Dickinson and Connor Bedard together #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/5tJephSS6T
— CHGO Blackhawks (@CHGO_Blackhawks) November 18, 2024
Bedard has a dismal 29.7% success rate at the dot. But that’s not unusual for young centers. It takes time to get used to the intricacies of the art of winning faceoffs, especially against bigger, stronger, more experienced opponents. So moving Bedard to the wing made sense; it takes the responsibility of the draw away, as well as the more defensive coverage usually required of a center.
Furthermore, Dickinson and Anderson are two of the best shutdown players in the business. The idea here is that pretty much all defensive responsibility is taken away from Bedard. He’s free to truly concentrate on the offensive side of things.
This is all fine and dandy in theory. And it worked out great against the Ducks. Dickinson tallied two goals, with Bedard providing the primary assist on both goals.
But what happens when most of the team is underperforming, and you’re trying to win against the stacked defending Stanley Cup champs, the Florida Panthers? Well, Dickinson and Anderson are still going to be tasked with shutting down the opponent’s top line. Meaning Bedard gets pulled along with them. It’s pretty hard to create offensively when you’re hemmed in your own zone the whole night. Sure enough, Bedard went without a shot on goal, or even a shot attempt for that matter, against the Panthers.
Related – Blackhawks Overcome the Panthers; Win 3-1
In this scenario, Bedard is being asked to be a shutdown forward. That’s not his skill set. Yes, he needs to get better at that, and that should evolve eventually. But right now he needs confidence, and that comes from doing what he does best; scoring goals. The day after this game, Bedard admitted he was unusually down on himself. Said a frustrated Bedard,
I could name 100 things [I could do better]. I don’t know, man. It’s been frustrating, for sure. I just don’t feel like I’m really doing anything. Keep chipping away at it, I guess, and hopefully I’ll find my game again.
It has been a tough stretch. 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 actually did an admirable job of defending in this game, and Richardson said as much. But the 19-year-old doesn’t really care. He lives to score goals. To be fair, the theory of Bedard being freed up to create offense on this new line could work against a lot of teams. But once again, Richardson and the coaching staff didn’t really give this line an opportunity to find out.
More Line Changes for the Blackhawks
In the next contest against the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 23, Richardson started with the line of Bedard, Dickinson and Anderson. But by mid-game he had changed things up again, this time putting Hall, Bedard and Teravainen together (with Bedard back to centering). This line looked decent enough, but it didn’t produce either. Hall and Teravainen finished the afternoon with one and three shots on net, respectively. But it was Bedard’s second consecutive game without registering even a shot on goal.
The Blackhawks practiced again this past Monday; and guess what?! Bedard’s line was changed AGAIN! This time he was centering Hall and Kurashev. When will the madness end?!
Is This All Richardson’s Fault?
A lot of people seem to think so. There’s an overwhelming opinion that Richardson is making baffling decisions because he’s in over his head (from ‘Who’s to blame for Blackhawks’ abysmal offense? From the top down, just about everyone’, The AthleticCHI – 11/17/2024). Even in his statement I inserted above, Richardson talked about how they’re “desperate for more offense”. That’s a pretty damning statement coming from a head coach. Many are calling for Richardson to get the ax.
I’d say that’s being a little harsh. After all, Richardson is still learning too. He’s a former NHL defenseman, so therefore thinks the game first and foremost defensively. That’s not all bad. As they say, defense wins championships. And the grit and grind and physicality is why we love the postseason so much.
But you also have to score to win games. There’s a delicate balance that maybe Richardson hasn’t exactly figured out just yet. Especially with the players he has to work with.
The line blending is a little much. I’d like to believe that Richardson is going to realize this eventually. Hopefully sooner rather than later. He likes to give his players some tough love, to force them to dig deep and get better. This line blending could be a part of that.
But again, it’s a balance. Some would say he went too far with Reichel all last season and the beginning of this season. But Reichel is finally showing signs of improvement. It took over a year, but he seems to have turned a corner, and to be a better all-around player.
Related – Blackhawks’ Lukas Reichel Finally Finding His Way
Are we in for the same situation with Bedard? In a previous article I talked about keeping the long-term in perspective. Think about it this way. Every time the coaching staff makes a questionable decision, ask yourself; is this for the good right now or is this for the good of the future? If it’s the later, then it’s probably the right decision. We should all remember to keep this perspective throughout the season. After all, it’s the long term that’s much more important than the here and now.
Long-term, this will all make Bedard a better player. But, he’s so low right now that maybe the coaching staff should just throw him a bone. The problem is, I’m not sure they have that many more bones to throw him.
Is Bedard Having a Sophomore Slump?
Another thing we need to consider is that Bedard is just having a typical sophomore slump. Other teams have scouted him now. They know his tendencies. They know his weaknesses, and they’re going to do their best to thwart him. After all, if you negate the best player on the team you have a good chance of winning. All the focus, or most of it, is on Bedard. In some ways, it’s on him to work through this.
This could be the biggest challenge to date of his young career. Bedard isn’t the biggest player, or the most physical. He’s not a power forward. He’s a finesse forward that has a toolbox of fabulous shots. He needs to figure out how to adapt his specific skills to the NHL level. How to be elusive and avoid contact; how to be sneaky and persistent about hounding the puck. How to use his hockey IQ to create space for himself and his linemates. All this doesn’t happen overnight. It could take some time.
The Final Word (For Now) on the Blackhawks Line Changes
Regardless, this constant movement isn’t doing Bedard, or any of the players for that matter, any favors. It’s understandable to change things up if they’re not working. And usually if you don’t win, things aren’t working. But there’s something to be said for having some continuity. Give the players more than just one or two games to develop some chemistry; to get used to each other’s tendencies. This certainly hasn’t been the case so far this season.
Some common denominators on all this line blending with Bedard has been Teravainen, Hall and Kurashev. It makes sense to have Bedard and Kurashev together. They’ve both been slumping, but they found a lot of success last season. Playing together again could be just what the doctor ordered to get them both out of said slumps.
Hall and Teravainen both have qualities to bring to the top line as well. Richardson seems to be pushing more recently for Hall to play with Bedard. Teravainen had his chances earlier in the season, and the coach seems to have soured on that a little bit right now.
Other players that have been brought up to play with Bedard are Tyler Bertuzzi and Foligno. Bertuzzi is really one of the only top-six players that hasn’t gotten a shot yet with Bedard. He most certainly has the net front presence to pick up rebounds, but he doesn’t exactly have the speed to keep up with Bedard. We know Foligno can play with Bedard, and that they have good chemistry with each other. But it would be nice to surround the 19-year-old with players that match his skill set a little better. I would consider Reichel, but he’s playing so well with Pat Maroon and Craig Smith right now I’m not sure if I would mess with that. Give them more ice time! Sorry, that’s a discussion for another day.
I’d personally like the most recent line in practice of Hall-Bedard-Kurashev. But I also wouldn’t argue with Hall-Bedard-Teravainen. Or even Kurashev-Bedard-Teravainen.
Whatever they decide, give the trio at least four or five games together before you tweak it again!
Related – Blackhawks Establishing Higher Standard With Healthy Scratches
This is where we stand with Bedard’s top line as we near the end of November. I’m sure we’ll see more line blending as the season continues. But let’s hope it settles down soon, so the players can develop some chemistry with each other. A few more wins could help this cause as well.
Can the Blackhawks find the right line combinations? Who would you place on a line with Bedard? Feel free to share your thoughts and comments. After all, at this point nothing seems to be off the table!
