October did not end exactly the way the Chicago Blackhawks hoped it would. After defeating the defending Stanley Cup champion and previously undefeated Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in overtime on Oct. 27, the Blackhawks then faced the Arizona Coyotes on Oct. 30 and were overwhelmed and defeated by a score of 8-1. This left them with a record of 3-6 to start the season, which is not all that bad considering the schedule of games handed to them by the NHL.
While the win against the Golden Knights gave us a look at what the Blackhawks could achieve, their work over the first month of the season revealed things that the young Hawks need to work on. A quick look at the statistics for October reveals the lack of offensive firepower for the Hawks to start the season. The young Hawks enter November tied for 29th in goals scored, averaging 2.11 per game, ranked 31 of 32 teams in power-play percentage while ranking dead last in the league in faceoff wins.
The Need for Healthy Veterans
While the Blackhawks have a wealth of young talent, the need for some veteran presence to help this team grow is essential to their development. One of the veterans who have done just this for the team is Corey Perry, who is tied with Connor Bedard for the team’s leader in points earned for the first month of the season. The 38-year-old Perry, acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning on the second day of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, had been one of the stabilizing veteran presences for the Blackhawks to the start of the season.
Taylor Hall has been on the IR since Oct. 21 due to an injury to his left shoulder. He skated on his own before Blackhawks practice on Wednesday (Nov. 1), could practice with the team as early as Friday (Nov. 3), and could be back in the lineup as early as Saturday’s (Nov. 4) game against the Florida Panthers. The Blackhawks, who have only scored 19 goals in nine games, could use the boost from a player like Hall, who still can help the offensive production of those who play with him, especially Bedard.
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While Bedard and Perry lead the team with six points, that total does not even put them in the top 100 for point leaders in the NHL. At this pace, Bedard would likely score less than 60 points for the season. It was a tough month for the Blackhawks, with a road-heavy schedule against many of the top teams in the NHL, but the Blackhawks need all of their veteran talent to be on the ice and provide leadership and support for their younger teammates.
Another Challenging Schedule Ahead
Unlike October, the Blackhawks will have more games at home in November than road games. However, the schedule is loaded with playoff-caliber teams. They start the month with back-to-back home games against last year’s Stanley Cup Finalist in the Panthers, and the red-hot New Jersey Devils. November will also see the team face the Toronto Maple Leafs the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 24) and have two contests against both the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. The offensively challenged Blackhawks may catch a break as they will probably not have to face all-world goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy as he is still recovering from back surgery.
Other notable games include home contests against the Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues, and Seattle Kraken. The Kraken was also a playoff team last season and is expected to make a run at the playoffs this year. The Hawks finish the month with a road trip to play the Detroit Red Wings, who are sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division. This game will feature a contest against former Blackhawks Alex Debrincat, who has nine goals and 13 points in 10 games.
Blackhawks That Must Be Much Better in November
While this list could be pretty long, there is one name that quickly rises to the top: Lukas Reichel. Nobody is more upset by his lack of production than Reichel himself. “Of course, I’m pissed,” Reichel said in a recent interview about his pointless October. “I’m frustrated. I want to score. It’s more fun if you score, of course, that’s why I’m a forward. But I try to stay positive and keep working.”
Recently, the Hawks have used their four-day break between games to tinker with their lines and have moved Reichel back to a wing, having Andreas Athanasiou center on that line and Taylor Raddysh as the right winger. That might be a good move, as in 20 NHL games as a center, Reichel has one point. In 23 games as a winger, he has 15 points on seven goals and eight assists.
While Bedard has shown some improvement throughout the month, evidenced by scoring goals in three of his last four games, there are still areas in which he still needs improvement. In his first nine games, the 18-year-old has won only 37.7% of his faceoffs. While the entire team has been poor in this area, ranking last in the entire NHL through October, your top-line center needs to improve this part of his game sooner rather than later. Not much of a major secret here, as the Blackhawks made this a focus of practice last week as former NHLer Yanic Perreault worked with Bedard and all of the centers on this skill. The 52-year-old was hired as a special consultant by the Blackhawks in 2013 and is generally considered one of the better faceoff men in the long history of the NHL.
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Another area that Bedard and the Blackhawks must also improve on is their power-play efficiency. The top players in the game are very proficient when they are a man-up, and they will make opponents pay when given the opportunity. For example, Leon Draisatil and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers are among the top players in the league who also thrive on the power play. When the Blackhawks face the Lightning twice, they will get a look at one of the better power play units in the NHL that Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, and Brayden Point spearhead. November would be an excellent time to improve their 9% scoring rate when they are a man-up, and it would be a bonus if Bedard gets his first tally in that situation.
There were many things that the Blackhawks did in the first month of the season that gave hope that this team is trending in the right direction. However, this talented young team will need to take the lessons that they have learned and use them to continue their development in November.
