The 2023-24 season for the Chicago Blackhawks has come to an end, and what a ride it was. There were fun moments, but it was mostly disappointing. They ended up with the second-worst record in the NHL (down 7 points from their 59 points last year), were the lowest-scoring team in franchise history that played 80-plus games, and had too many negative outside factors that made their season even more challenging than expected. However, some aspects, such as rookie Connor Bedard, made the season bearable and kept fans engaged.
Without further ado, here is a recap of the Blackhawks’ season.
Good: Many Players Emerged Onto the Scene
A good thing for the Blackhawks this season is that quite a few players stepped up. Usually, a team is lucky to see one player have a career year in a season, but the Blackhawks had five.
- Jason Dickinson: He had career highs in goals (22) and points (35) in 82 games during his eighth NHL season and also got buzz for a should-be Selke Trophy nomination.
- Nick Foligno: The 36-year-old’s 37 points in 74 games were the best numbers he had seen since he had 35 points in 2018-19 with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
- Petr Mrazek: His .908 SV% (Save percentage) and 3.05 GAA (goals-against average) in 56 games were his highest since his 2019-20 season with the Carolina Hurricanes, where he posted a 2.69 GAA and a .905 SV% in 40 games.
- Philipp Kurashev: Like Dickinson, he also hit career-highs in goals (18) and points (54) in 75 games during his fourth NHL season. His points were second-best on the team behind Connor Bedard.
- Joey Anderson: His 17 points in 55 games was a career-high, and he also played more than 24 games for the first time in his seven-year career, as he was previously bounced around the AHL (American Hockey League) and NHL before that.
To add even more, Connor Bedard shined. He led his team in points (61), was tied in goals (22), and carried the Hawks on his back as an 18-year-old, which is commendable. He continued to lead the stat sheet even when he missed 14 games with a fractured jaw. He will likely win the Calder Trophy for the NHL’s best rookie, and it is more than deserved. Then, Alex Vlasic became one of the best shutdown defensemen in the league as a 22-year-old rookie and will continue to grow into a force for the blue line.
For feel-good stories, watching Colin Blackwell, Andreas Athanasiou, and Connor Murphy battle back to the lineup after suffering months-long injuries and Lukas Reichel returning to form after struggling most of the season. Other prospects like Frank Nazar, Kevin Korchinski, Ethan Del Mastro, Wyatt Kaiser, and Landon Slaggert brought excitement to the United Center, too.
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These players made a significant impact and made fans optimistic about the future. Knowing many of these players will be here for two-plus more years is a good thing, and general manager Kyle Davidson did well to ensure players like Mrazek, Dickinson, and Foligno got re-signed during the season.
There was positive leadership within this group, and it was sorely needed for what was to come next.
Bad: Blackhawks’ Bad Habits Continued to Haunt Them
As aforementioned, the team’s record was even worse than last season. Chicago was not expected to be a playoff contender, but it was definitely not for them to be in the bottom three in the standings again. Some of that was due to factors the team could not control (which will be discussed later), but another was bad habits that showed in the third game of the season in a 3-2 loss against the Montreal Canadiens. As much as it was hoped that it was still early, it never improved. That game against Montreal showed two themes that continued to be talking points for the rest of the season: slow starts and questionable efforts. Head coach Luke Richardson started blasting the team’s effort levels two weeks into the season when the Blackhawks got shut out 3-0 by the Boston Bruins. He even held an infamous bag skate for the Blackhawks in February due to being unhappy with their performances.
As far as the slow starts and constantly playing from behind are concerned, Foligno said last month that he didn’t really have an answer as to why that kept happening. But the Blackhawks didn’t always have those issues. The Blackhawks beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 on April 6, and they are the second-best team in the NHL. Seth Jones said after the game, “I think it shows we have it in here,” and he is right. I believe the team could have been better than what they showed most nights, but that next gear was shown sparingly for whatever reason, and they had trouble building off of anything. After the big Dallas win, they lost six straight, and two of those teams (Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues) were not playoff teams. To put more salt in the wound, they never won more than two games in a row, and their bleak offense and defense didn’t help matters.
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The players talked to the media about holding each other accountable and playing the right way all season, and they were as frustrated as anyone. However, knowing there is a foundation for what they could be and are capable of is a start for them. The Hawks do have the building blocks in their locker room, and continuing to add to it is paramount.
Ugly: On and Off-Ice Issues Collided at Once
Bad habits started showing during the first week, but so did their “ugly” theme of the season: injuries. Taylor Hall, who was brought in to help mentor the team and play with Bedard, got hurt during the second game of the season against the Boston Bruins. Although he played 10 games, he was shut down for the season with ACL surgery in November. Little did the team know that Hall’s significant loss was only the tip of the iceberg.
By January, the team had 10 players on injured reserve at once. Usually, hockey players are tough and never complain. Their arm could be falling off, and they would try to play through it, but this situation even had the players begging for help. Jason Dickinson said, “We need reinforcements. We need anybody at this point because it’s thin.” Zach Sanford was a player claimed off of waivers from the Arizona Coyotes in January to help them, and he said, “You ask anyone around the league, and they’ve never really seen anything like what’s been going on with the Hawks here.” Injuries happen, and some teams get hit harder than others some years, but this was next level.
When it rains, it pours, and as players continued to make their way to injured reserve, the Blackhawks also terminated Corey Perry’s contract in November due to “workplace misconduct.” It affected the locker room because he was a voice the team respected. Both the injuries and the contract termination happened on top of each other, which was unfortunate. There is a saying by Dorothy Draper that goes, “Too much of anything is the beginning of a mess,” and that’s how I would describe their season. Every NHL team has to endure adversity, but all those back-to-back factors were likely too much for Chicago to overcome. The lack of depth caused them to lose the battle before it began. The Hawks knew they had to keep swimming, and they admirably remained a close-knit group. They persevered as best they could, but it got dark for them.
Rebuilding seasons are always weird because you’ll witness many different things, but I’m not sure we will see another season for the Blackhawks quite like this one. It was unprecedented, but the players and fans agreed that the team is headed in the right direction. It reminds me of something Ryan Donato said after a loss in March, “I think these young guys are hungry. They don’t like losing, and that’s a good thing, but I think that’s the biggest thing I take away from it. I think that’s a bright spot of the future is how sick of losing these guys are, and I’m happy to be part of that, and hopefully we can grow from it.”
That means everything going forward. Next season should bring needed change, as Foligno mentioned after their season finale loss against the Los Angeles Kings on April 18. They will be in the draft lottery again and will get another top-four talent this summer, which will be a big boost, too. Undoubtedly, important lessons the team learned on and off the ice this season will stay with them. It gets worse before it gets better, and their time will come.
But the biggest test to improve this team for next season starts now.
