Chicago Blackhawks 2025-26 Player Grades: Teuvo Teravainen

The Chicago Blackhawks finished their 2025-26 campaign 31st in the league, with a record of 29-39-14 and 72 points. It was an improvement from last season’s totals of 25-46-11 (61 points), but the organization had more progress in mind when they embarked on this campaign. The good news is the Blackhawks finished with more wins and more points than the previous season. They also feel they’ve taken positive strides in the growth and development of a plethora of young players, who could be a big part of a more successful future.

In this summer series, we’ll hand out individual grades to every player on the team. Today we highlight veteran forward Teuvo Teravainen.

Teravainen’s Season Stats

14 goals, 21 assists, 35 points, minus-30 in 75 games played. Average time on ice (ATOI) of 17:45 minutes

46.9 Corsi For Percentage (at Even Strength) (CF%), 43 blocked shots, 21 hits, 22 takeaways, 71 giveaways, 6 penalty minutes

Contract Status: Contract runs through the 2026-27 season, $5.4 million cap hit

Season Overview

Teravainen started the season in the same as he did at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, stapled to the second line alongside Frank Nazar. The two had built some chemistry together, and that carried over. They also followed very similar paths when entering the NHL, albeit several years apart. In the first two months of the season, Teravainen recorded a healthy six goals and 17 points (through 25 games).

GOAL: Oh my, Teuvo Teravainen. A silky-smooth goal from Turbo ties the game pic.twitter.com/tP7TwFo9Yf

— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) November 16, 2025

But in early December, head coach Jeff Blashill wanted to see how the two speedsters, Nazar and Oliver Moore, would look together. Teravainen was therefore displaced to the shutdown third line, with Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev. In late December, he became the veteran presence on a third line with rookies Moore and Nick Lardis. Did these lineup changes, and arguably more defensive responsibility, account for Teravainen’s much lower production through December to the beginning of the Olympic break (four goals and six points in the next 25 games)?

It’s tough to say. He did fare a little better down the final stretch for the Blackhawks (four goals and 12 points in another 25 games). However, he ended the season playing mostly on the fourth line. He also had an overall plus/minus rating of minus-30, of which only Andre Burakovsky and Artyom Levshunov rated lower. It was a rough ending to a rather mediocre campaign for the 31-year-old.

Note: I was able to separate Teravainen’s season into three segments of exactly 25 games, so I highlighted his stats from each segment for greater visibility.

Even so, Teravainen finished fifth on the team in points, and sixth in goals and assists. His contributions on the power play were his saving grace. His seven power play goals were tied with Bedard for second on the team, and his 12 assists and 19 points both also ranked second.

An ongoing theme with Teravainen throughout the season was that he’s an incredibly smart player. He thinks the game well, is a good distributor of the puck and is defensively accountable. It should also be noted that Teravainen was a regular contributor on the penalty kill (156:52 minutes for fourth on the team). This is why Blashill could deploy him really anywhere in the lineup. All in all, he’s a valuable asset to have.

Quotable Quotes

Coach Blashill on Apr. 1, in response to Teravainen going through some struggles and confidence issues.

He’s probably not feeling it, and that happens. It happens, like we’ve said to every player. The one thing with Teuvo is he still contributes, even if he’s not playing a major role five-on-five. Because he’s a really good penalty killer and he’s a really good bumper in the power play. So those two things he’s continued to do a good job at. Five-on-five he’s probably not feeling as well as he’d like to. I think the biggest thing with him is just making sure he moves his feet when he gets the puck. When he does that, he’s a really smart player. Can make a lot of good plays.

I had to throw this one in, since Nazar and Teravainen have played so much together. It’s a testament to the respect Nazar has for his veteran teammate. Nazar from Mar. 9, on what it means to play with Teravainen & what he’s taught him:

I definitely think hockey sense is a big part. Spoke about it before, but like, just how smart he is and how he reads the ice. I mean, I feel like he could play forever. It doesn’t matter if he can’t skate or he only has one leg. Like, I feel like he just reads the ice so well and has such a good touch that, he can play wherever, anywhere, anytime. And that’s a big thing. And learning to read off him, being predictable with him, it goes a long way.

Teravainen’s Final Grade: C-

It’s a harsh grade, but Teravainen just didn’t seem like the same player in the final two-thirds of the season. Perhaps he was dealing with a nagging injury. Perhaps Father Time is catching up to him (he’ll be 32 on Sept. 11). Or maybe it was just a combination of challenging deployment and confidence issues. Whatever it was, it would be beneficial for Teravainen to bounce back next season.