A year ago at this time, Blackhawks fans were too busy celebrating the arrival of Connor Bedard to think about how bleak things really looked. And, boy, was it bleak. There were more roster spots than there were proven NHL players, and the position battles involved the likes of MacKenzie Entwistle, Reese Johnson and Cole Guttman.
This year, with an influx of veterans up front, on the back end and in goal, the roster calculus has changed dramatically. The question isn’t which young, unproven players will get a crack at the opening-day lineup, it’s whether any young, unproven players will get a crack at the opening-day lineup.
With camp set to open on Thursday at Fifth Third Arena, here’s our best guess at what the Blackhawks will look like when they welcome the Utah Hockey Club to the NHL in Salt Lake City on Oct. 8.
Forwards
First line
Tyler Bertuzzi, Connor Bedard, Teuvo Teräväinen
Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson signed Bertuzzi and Teräväinen to the longest UFA contracts he’s handed out so far for one reason – to play with Bedard. Upgrading the Blackhawks’ forwards was a priority for Davidson. As more of the Blackhawks’ top prospects move their way up the pipeline, that might change, but for now, Bertuzzi and Teräväinen make the most sense to play alongside Bedard.
Both players have played alongside elite talent elsewhere. Bertuzzi played the most with John Tavares and William Nylander with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. Bertuzzi has the skill, competitiveness and grit to complement Bedard’s game. Teräväinen’s most frequent linemates were Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov with the Carolina Hurricanes. Teräväinen brings a blend of creative offense and solid defense to the line. You add in Bedard’s high-end offense, and the line should be plenty productive.
Most lines rarely stay together all season, so that should provide other players opportunities to play with Bedard. Philipp Kurashev obviously thrived with Bedard last season, but he’ll likely have to prove his chemistry with Bedard trumps what Bertuzzi or Teräväinen are going to bring to the table.
Second line
Taylor Hall, Frank Nazar, Lukas Reichel
This is where things get complicated. The Blackhawks would be perfectly content to send Frank Nazar to Rockford to start the season, to let him get some seasoning with what should be a pretty exciting IceHogs team. If you count how many veterans they signed this summer, it sure seems like that might have even been the plan. And hey, Nazar is only 20 years old. But the No. 13 pick in the 2022 draft sure looked NHL-ready in his three games with the Blackhawks in the spring, and if he continues to show similar speed, tenacity and responsibility throughout camp and the preseason, the Blackhawks will find a spot for him. Heck, they might have saved one for him. Of all those veterans they signed, none of them qualifies as a second-line center. Nazar does. Setting him up with a savvy, offensive-minded veteran in Taylor Hall and a speedy playmaker in Lukas Reichel — two players eager to have big bounce-back seasons — could be a nice fit for the rookie.
Reichel is no longer waiver-exempt, so he’ll certainly start the season in Chicago. And there’s little point in playing him in a bottom-six role, so he and Hall are safe bets here. If Nazar stumbles at all in camp and does start in Rockford, Andreas Athanasiou or Jason Dickinson could slot in between Hall and Reichel.
Third line
Andreas Athanasiou, Philipp Kurashev, Ilya Mikheyev
Where exactly Athanasiou, Kurashev and Mikheyev fit into the Blackhawks’ lineup is tricky. They could play in an assortment of places. Athanasiou could make sense with Reichel. They’ve had chemistry. Kurashev played a ton with Bedard. Mikheyev is one of those players who can play anywhere in the lineup. He played with seven linemates for 100-plus minutes last season. Ultimately, other players were more logical elsewhere in the lineup and this trio seemed to make somewhat sense.
All that said, a line of Athanasiou, Kurashev and Mikheyev could be really interesting. All three players bring some positive qualities. They would have some speed, some creativity, some offensive upside, some defensive responsibility. They could click together. They could be a mess together. It’s probably worth the experiment.
Fourth line
Nick Foligno, Jason Dickinson, Pat Maroon
Calling this a “fourth line” is a stretch, and it’s entirely possible that it gets as many, if not more, minutes than the nominal third line. Dickinson was a revelation last year, a Selke-caliber defender who shattered his career high with 22 goals. He looked every bit as comfortable and capable of centering Bedard as he did grinding it out in the bottom six with Foligno and Joey Anderson. Dickinson can be this team’s second-line center, and probably deserves to be, but he brings more value in a shutdown role. The additions up front allow Foligno to play a more defensive-minded role, too, after spending a good chunk of the season as Bedard’s left wing.
If Nazar makes the team, at least one of the new veterans — either big Pat Maroon or steady Craig Smith — is going to be the odd man out each night, with Ryan Donato a potential scratch and Anderson (despite his strong play, particularly alongside Dickinson) likely the easiest to move through waivers. It’s not hard to envision a rotation for that 12th forward spot until someone takes it and runs with it.
Extras
Ryan Donato, Craig Smith
After all the offseason moves, it’s fair to ask whether the Blackhawks brought in too many forwards. We’ve already mentioned the dilemma with Nazar, Donato and Smith. Donato played with Bedard a lot last season and could be sitting this season depending on how camp plays out. Smith played consistently for the Dallas Stars last season. Anderson was one of the Blackhawks’ best forwards in the second half of last season and could end up through waivers again. Beyond them, prospects like Guttman, Colton Dach and Landon Slaggert were probably hoping to push for a roster spot out of camp. That doesn’t seem realistic now.
Defensemen
First pairing
Alex Vlasic, Seth Jones
The only sure thing in this projection, you can etch Vlasic and Jones in stone. The duo played 857 minutes together at five-on-five last season against top competition and were outscored only 34-32 — a Herculean effort on one of the worst teams in a century of Blackhawks hockey. For perspective, every other defensive combination was outscored 134-57.
Vlasic’s sudden emergence as a legitimate high-end defender was the most important development of the entire 2023-24 season, Bedard’s brilliance included. Few saw such a meteoric rise coming, and with the likes of Artyom Levshunov, Kevin Korchinski and Wyatt Kaiser either on the way or already here, the future looks bright for the Blackhawks’ back end.
And with six years left on his contract, Jones will be a part of that picture, too. Despite the frequent lamentations about his $9.5 million cap hit, Jones has been a solid performer in his three Chicago seasons. Jones is a very good No. 2 defenseman. He’s paid like a No. 1, which isn’t ideal, but it’s hardly the albatross that, say, Brent Seabrook’s deal became in his latter years. Despite a bewildering start to the season in which he somehow didn’t score until Jan. 19, Jones had seven goals and eight assists over his last 25 games, while playing a significant role in Vlasic’s breakout season. Someday soon, this could be an elite second pairing when Levshunov and perhaps Korchinski take over the top pairing. For now, it’s a very solid No. 1 duo.
Second pairing
Wyatt Kaiser, Connor Murphy
Kaiser isn’t a lock to make the team out of camp, but he probably has the best chance of the young defensemen. He had some ups and downs last season in his first pro year, but he was better at the end than at the start. Somewhat following Vlasic’s development path, the Blackhawks put Kaiser in Rockford for part of last season, played him a lot in all situations and he returned to Chicago a better player. If Kaiser can pick up where he left off, he’ll play himself into the lineup.
With Murphy, this feels like an important season. His game has fallen off the past few years. For one, he needs to remain healthy. He played in 46 games last season due to injury and played in 57 games in the 2021-22 season. He probably doesn’t have a future with the Blackhawks beyond his contract, but he still has two years remaining and could help usher in some of the young defensemen.
Third pairing
T.J. Brodie, Alec Martinez
While Blackhawks fans likely want to see Korchinski or Ethan Del Mastro or Nolan Allan at this level, the plan is for those younger defensemen to over-ripen in Rockford. Last year, the Blackhawks threw the likes of Isaak Phillips and Louis Crevier to the wolves on this pairing. This year, the Blackhawks have a competent veteran duo — Brodie is 34, Martinez is 37 — to hold down the fort and let the kids develop.
Both Brodie (with the Maple Leafs) and Martinez (with the Golden Knights) were healthy scratches down the stretch last season, but both are hoping to rejuvenate their careers in Chicago after trying seasons.
Extra
Isaak Phillips
The seventh defenseman could be anyone, honestly. There isn’t someone like Jarred Tinordi who fits that perfectly. Maybe Brodie or Martinez occasionally sit depending on if they want to give Levshunov, Korchinski, Allan, Del Mastro, Crevier or Phillips games at different points of the season? By the end of the year, some of the young defensemen could play themselves into permanent NHL jobs, too. Phillips might be a temporary solution as the seventh defenseman. He’s done it before and has 53 NHL games under his belt. He’s also still just 22 years old and could develop into a full-time NHLer.
Goaltenders
Petr Mrázek, Laurent Brossoit
Petr Mrázek might have been the Blackhawks’ MVP last season. On the surface, his .908 save percentage is rather pedestrian, but behind that Blackhawks team, it was darn near superhuman. Perhaps even more important, Mrázek played a career-high 56 games, his first 50-game season since 2016-17. After years of being plagued by soft-tissue injuries, Mrázek made it through the entire season unscathed and showed he can handle a true No. 1 workload. That, combined with his big presence in the locker room, made it an easy call for Davidson to sign him to a two-year extension.
That said, the Blackhawks don’t want Mrázek to play 56 games again. They’d much rather have a No. 2 goalie who can share the net more evenly, something Arvid Söderblom wasn’t really capable of doing during a difficult rookie season. So Davidson brought in Laurent Brossoit, one of the premier backups in the league, from Winnipeg. How good was Brossoit last season? Well, his teammate Connor Hellebuyck was the undisputed best goalie in the league, but Brossoit had a higher save percentage (.927-.921) and a lower goals-against average (2.00-2.39). Despite playing just 23 games, Brossoit was 12th in the league with 17.82 goals saved above expected, per Evolving Hockey.
Brossoit’s status for the opener is uncertain, as he had meniscus surgery on his right knee in late August. If he’s not quite ready by the end of camp, Söderblom likely will back up Mrázek again, unless Drew Commesso leapfrogs him on the depth chart with a strong preseason showing.
(Top photo of Connor Bedard: Jamie Sabau / USA Today)
