The Chicago Blackhawks’ season has been over for a while now. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s all been bad recently, as the young players are improving on a nightly basis and the team has been fighting to stay in games, losing in overtime to the Minnesota Wild on March 17, 4-3, but then bouncing back and snapping a seven-season winless streak against the Wild to win 2-1 on the 19th. It also broke a streak of where the Blackhawks haven’t won in St. Paul since 2017.
Related: Blackhawks Notebook: OT Woes, Bedard, Greene, Lardis, Frondell & More
Some of the negatives outweigh the positives, though. Against the Colorado Avalanche on March 20, the Blackhawks were outshot 49-20 and lost 4-1, and then their overtime struggles continued as they fell 3-2 to the Nashville Predators two days later.
One of the most frequent complaints has been that Andre Burakovsky is still on the first line, even with all of his struggles. Nick Lardis, who is one of the key pieces to the Blackhawks’ future and has already shown his worth, sits on the fourth line. Through the last 15 games, it couldn’t hurt to give him a look. Head coach Jeff Blashill talked about keeping Burakovsky on the first line, though, and why he was doing it, and it doesn’t seem as if Lardis will see top-line minutes anytime soon.
Blashill Defends His Decisions
At a media scrum, Blashill was asked about keeping Burakovsky on the first line. He said that he has a strong work ethic and a high intensity to compete. Plus, linemate Connor Bedard always speaks very highly of him, and he’s clearly well-liked and believed in inside the locker room.
The fact of the matter is that Burakovsky is struggling and should’ve been taken off Bedard’s wing a long time ago. In the last 26 games, he’s contributed two goals. It hasn’t been working out for the last two months, and yet nothing has changed. It’s great that Blashill has trust in Burakovsky, but with Sacha Boisvert and Anton Frondell on their way since both their seasons have ended, it’s time to make a change and punish him for his poor play. If this were a young player, they would have been moved down a month ago. No exceptions should be given due to the fact that he’s a veteran on the team.
Lardis, on the other hand, has nine points in 28 games, including a goal in the last game against the Predators, at only 20 years old. This is his first taste of NHL play, and he’s been doing a great job. He was called up due to all of the injuries at the beginning of the year and earned his place, receiving top-line minutes with Bedard until he was sent back down to the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League (AHL). Lardis couldn’t stop scoring goals in Rockford and was brought back up to Chicago after the trade deadline, and is sitting on the fourth line getting 10 minutes per night.
“This is a hard league to only have six spots to make, so he’s got to show us the depth of his game, that he can add offense without having to be on the ice with the very best players on the team. It’s hard to learn how to play 10 minutes a night if you’re playing 20 minutes a night, so learning this is an important part of development.”
– Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill on why Lardis is on the fourth line
It’s important that Lardis knows how to play a solid 10-minute hockey game, but he’s already shown he can play more than that. Even if Tyler Bertuzzi gets bumped up a line in place of Burakovsky, that would suffice. Burakovsky has shown he can play solid minutes at the beginning of the year, but something has to give because he needs a little bit of a reset right now.
Blashill Knows Where the Blackhawks Are At
This could all be done because the season is ending in less than a month, and Blashill doesn’t want to make a big change like that, especially to the first line. He’s a first-year head coach in the Windy City, and he may be taking an approach like former head coach Luke Richardson did, and is trying to respect and prioritize the veterans, and not move them down the lineup.
One thing to be considered, too, is that Bedard’s game hasn’t been hindered too much, yet. He just scored a beautiful breakaway goal last game against the Predators to cap off the weekend, and it brought his tally up to 29. Bedard and Ryan Greene have a good connection right now; they’re both feeding off of each other nicely.
Injuries brought the Blackhawks’ early dream run screeching to a halt, and now the focus is getting the best game out of the young guns while staying in contention to pick in the top five, even top three, in June at the NHL Entry Draft, while trying to keep everyone healthy. Blashill is doing just that — they’ll add more talent as prospects come in and then try again next season.
