Chicago, please survive the year without criminal activity re-surfacing

Connor Bedard celebrates a goal in Chicago. Image Credits: Michael Reaves

2023-24 season: 23-53-6, 8th in Central Division, 15th in Western Conference, 31st in league

The Chicago Blackhawks had a horrible season, and it was no surprise. The attempt to surround Connor Bedard with talented but over the hill veterans did not go very well, as Chicago plummeted to the bottom of the standings as quickly as the season got going. If not for the Sharks and Connor Bedard, they would not have looked very good. They have Seth Jones as their best defenseman, and he is a mere shell of what he was in Columbus. Their -111 looked horrible, and in the games I did see, they were just not good. They also went 4 months without a road win, and their leading goal scorers had 22 goals. Arvid Soderblom had the worst save percentage of all goalies with 25+ games played, and knowing he had the Senators goalies to contend with, it isn't a good look, and they should be looking to move on from him to back up Petr Mrazek.

Kyle Davidson did an adequate job this season by taking on some bad contracts for draft picks, by acquiring Josh Bailey and a 2026 2nd round pick, and by taking Sam Lafferty, Ilya Mikheyev, and a 2027 2nd round pick for a 2027 4th round pick. Connor Bedard's (in my opinion undeserved) Calder Trophy win was a bright spot for Chicago, but Luke Richardson needs to instill some defensive responsibilities in him. A -44 is embarrassing for any player who is going to be considered a franchise player, and it is the worst +/- of any Rookie of the Year. That in my opinion makes it seem like Richardson isn't doing his job to develop him as a defensive player, and I don't care how good somebody is, if they aren't backchecking or winning faceoffs, they need to be sat down or traded. If we're going to stack him against other generational talents, I'll quickly point out that Crosby and McDavid scored at a higher point per game pace and both only finished with a -1 on bottom 2 teams.

This year's mission for Chicago needs to be going another year without criminal allegations re-surfacing or committing crimes themselves. I'm not a fan of Danny Wirtz being the Blackhawks owner, as his grandfather and father were pretty bad people and stingy businessmen more so than team owners. The Blackhawks were a powerful institution of the NHL under the previous 2, and I'm hoping that the grip they've held on the NHL is starting to slip. Unfortunately, as the Chicago Blackhawks continue to be bad, I could see Gary Bettman bending the rules for the Blackhawks to allow them another 1st overall pick.

I would be surprised if the Blackhawks even came close to making the playoffs this year, but if Connor Bedard really did step up his game it wouldn't be impossible. But with Artyom Levshunov, their 2nd overall pick this year still in NCAA, they should just focus on making sure their free agent signings perform well enough to be traded at the deadline for a 1st round pick or 2. I think that this year their record will be 22-54-6, and they are the easiest pick for last place in the Central, behind only San Jose for worst in the conference. There also isn't anyone in the East that is bad enough to match them.