VANCOUVER — Eleven months ago during a lengthy and wide-ranging conversation in a small auxiliary office in Dallas, I asked Luke Richardson about how unique his situation was, how his leash seemed to be longer than perhaps any coach’s in the league, thanks to the (very) long game general manager Kyle Davidson was playing. Richardson’s record behind the bench was abysmal, but nobody could blame him given what he had to work with. He earned well-deserved plaudits for keeping a team designed to fail positive and fully engaged.
The wins and losses, and how they occurred, didn’t much matter.
“I realize that there is some timing that I benefit from,” Richardson told me. “But pro sports changes quickly. And I’m not sure that I’m going to trust that I have that long a cushion. You still need to show growth. You still need to show some individual movement in our players. And that’s up to me to be in charge of.”
This season was supposed to be more than just good vibes, though. It was supposed to see Connor Bedard take that next step into offensive superstardom. It was supposed to offer a glimpse into what Richardson’s system and structure look like. It was supposed to be about graduating from the conversation about the No. 1 NHL Draft pick. Nobody was mistaking this team for a contender, but Davidson went out and added a bunch of solid veteran contributors who were supposed to make the Chicago Blackhawks respectable again.
And yet here we are, wondering if top draft prospect James Hagens would be on Bedard’s wing or vice versa. Same as it ever was.
The Blackhawks lost for the fourth time in their past five games Saturday night, a 4-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks that included a pair of empty-netters. Yes, the Blackhawks once again were in the fight in the third period. That’s not nothing. But moral victories got old a long time ago.
What’s most alarming is how punchless this team is. It has lost twice as many games as it’s won this season, and it only seems to be getting worse. For the fifth straight game, the Blackhawks mustered exactly one goal in regulation. It doesn’t matter how well they play defensively and in goal if they can’t score.
“It’s getting frustrating,” defenseman Alex Vlasic said. “It’s pretty tiring to rely on one goal to win against a good team.”
Who’s to blame for this mess? How much time do you have?
Let’s start with the things that aren’t in the Blackhawks’ control, just to be fair. Seth Jones’ foot injury — he was spotted in a protective boot Saturday, was put on injured reserve and could miss “a little while” after blocking a shot against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. There’s no replacing Jones, who leads the league in average ice time. Vlasic is a heck of a player, but he doesn’t have the offensive ability Jones has. For all the grief Jones gets from fans because of his contract, he’s been very good for the Blackhawks the past couple of seasons. Without him, Vlasic was quarterbacking the top power-play unit and Alec Martinez, another defensive defenseman, manned the second unit. It’s hardly ideal.
“We can’t be Seth Jones,” Richardson said. “We’re not going to be him (except) by committee.”
Having both of Vancouver’s non-empty-net goals deflect in off Connor Murphy’s skates was bad luck, too. Of course, if Chicago could have scored more than one measly goal for the fifth straight game, it might not have mattered.
So, where to begin? Let’s start with Richardson, who scratched Taylor Hall in a somewhat shocking move, saying he needed more practice time after missing most of last season with a knee injury and implying this benching could last multiple games. Is Hall the player he was when he won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2018? No. Has he been the Blackhawks’ biggest liability on the ice? Hardly. Scratching one of the most proven offensive weapons you have when you desperately need goals is a head-scratcher, to be sure. Replacing Hall on the second line with defensive specialist Ilya Mikheyev (when Teuvo Teräväinen is on the third line in a checking role) is downright baffling. The fact Mikheyev put in a Nick Foligno rebound for Chicago’s only goal doesn’t change that.
Richardson is a cool and collected guy — it’s one of his best qualities as a coach, particularly for a team that could spiral quickly under a more volatile hand. But his incessant meddling with the lineup smacks a bit of desperation. Maybe he is feeling the pressure for the first time. The lineup changes every game. Bedard has had precious little consistency in his linemates and hasn’t been able to develop any chemistry with anyone as a result. Lukas Reichel was a fourth-liner, then a top-liner, then a fourth-liner again, all in one week. Foligno has played just about every position on just about every line. The second power-play unit Saturday was the fourth line plus Philipp Kurashev and Martinez. There’s a little too much throwing things against a wall and not enough letting it stick.
But the Blackhawks’ offensive woes go beyond Richardson. It’s difficult to criticize a 19-year-old, especially one who has played quite well this season and put in the work to turn himself into a more well-rounded player. But Bedard has to score, full stop. And he hasn’t for nine games in a row. He has gone pointless in seven of those. That unerring confidence that makes him so special seems shot right now. He’s deferring to the likes of Ryan Donato on two-on-ones, he’s hesitant to shoot, and he isn’t making the daring plays he made as a rookie. Where are those drag-and-drive shots? Where’s the instant release? Where are the no-look, sharp-angle shots that leave goalies baffled?
He’s only 19, yes, but he has been the best player on the team. Certainly the most gifted offensively. Fair or not, the kid’s gotta score.
“I don’t think he was pressing too much tonight,” Richardson countered. “I think he’s maybe holding on to the puck a little too long and looking for something better. We try to encourage him to shoot the puck. He’s an elusive shooter and dangerous. If we can get him skating and shooting the puck on the fly, that’s when he’s the most dangerous.”
Let’s keep going down the list. Where’s Tyler Bertuzzi? Arguably the biggest of Davidson’s offseason additions, signed for four years at a hefty $5.5 million, Bertuzzi has been largely invisible. The former 30-goal scorer has one five-on-five goal in 18 games and hasn’t been that menacing presence around the net the Blackhawks had hoped for. Kurashev is coming off an 18-goal, 54-point season; he has three goals and one assist. Not a single defenseman other than Jones has scored a goal this season.
And sure, throw Hall in here, too. Two goals in 17 games isn’t going to cut it. Scratching him seems arbitrary when the entire team can’t score, but yes, he needs to be better, too. They all do. Among the forwards, only Donato and perhaps Craig Smith are holding up their end of the bargain.
Are the Blackhawks substantially better this season? The eye test says yes, a little. But the standings say otherwise. They’re tied for dead last in the league in points percentage with the flat-lining Nashville Predators. They can’t score to save their lives.
And so here we are, once again, talking about needing a bounce, talking about a good first period or a good third period, talking about silver linings and things to build on. Here we are, in November, and once again thinking about the draft lottery.
“I like the spirit of the dressing room,” Richardson said. “They don’t like ‘we played better.’ They don’t want to hear ‘we played better’ when we still lose. I’m confident they’ll push that agenda.”
Being sick of losing is one thing. Doing something about it is another. The Blackhawks aren’t built to win the Stanley Cup, but they’re built to be better than this. At some point, this becomes unacceptable. At some point, even the longest leash gets tugged.
(Top photo: Jeff Vinnick / NHLI via Getty Images)
