The Chicago Blackhawks are going to be better and a more competitive team in 2024-25. This should be the result of all of the smart off-season moves Kyle Davidson and company made. But while the team is going to be much-improved in many aspects, there are five players that could really turn the tide of the season.
Taylor Hall
Taylor Hall is as healthy as he’s going to get coming into this season for the Blackhawks. After missing the final 72 games in 2023-24, he can almost be seen as one of the additions the team made given he played so little last season.
The first thing is Hall has to stay healthy throughout the season. While missing a few games here and there is workable, missing any length of time will hurt Chicago since Hall is a top-6 player and can produce. He may not be the Hart Trophy winner he once was, but he scored 20 goals and recorded 61 points in the last season in which he was healthy, 2021-22 with the Boston Bruins.
Hall didn’t get to play enough last season to really gain a ton of chemistry with Connor Bedard and some of his other teammates that are still here. That would’ve been helpful coming into this season, but with more options, Hall just has to find chemistry with whoever he plays with on the first or second line. 55+ points is a good mark to aim for as there are other weapons on the Blackhawks now too who can reach that mark.
Seth Jones
Seth Jones has had an interesting three seasons with the Blackhawks. He signed a long-term extension as a part of the trade to acquire him because he assumed Chicago would be competitive. That hasn’t been the case, but Jones has been the number one defenseman on the team nonetheless.
Many criticize him for not playing like a true number one, but given he logs over 25 minutes per game, plays on the power play, penalty kill, and top pairing, you would have a strong argument against that.
Jones’ role won’t change this season, but he now does have a little more help. What the Blackhawks are hoping to see happen is a bounce-back of sorts. He put up 51 points in 2021-22, then 12 goals and 37 points in 2022-23, before just 31 points last season. As the clear choice to play on the top power-play unit and log a ton of minutes, the Blackhawks are going to be better, so he has to produce offensively more once again.
Jones is the anchor of the back-end and is a former All-Star. The Blackhawks need that again with strong play all over the ice.
Laurent Brossoit
Laurent Brossoit doesn’t need to do a whole lot to just be better than Arvid Soderblom was last season for the Blackhawks. Regardless, Brossoit still has to perform and provide at least 30 starts behind Petr Mrazek, possibly more.
Brossoit had incredible numbers as the backup in Winnipeg, but won’t be behind as strong of a defensive team and will have a larger role. Nobody is expecting a .927 SV% like what he finished each of the last two seasons with, but .905-.915 is even a major step up from Soderblom’s .879 SV% last season.
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Mrazek needs relief and to not play every game to ensure he stays healthy throughout the season. Brossoit will hopefully gain the confidence from the coaching staff as soon as he returns to action and give the Blackhawks a chance to win every night.
Connor Bedard
Bedard came into the NHL as an 18-year-old and was great. He led the Blackhawks in points with 61 and tied for the team lead in goals with 22 while only playing 68 games. He is expected to play a full season and has already shown he’s not going to be pushed around this season.
Bedard has to be the best player on the team and I don’t think he’s going to have a ton of trouble doing that, even with the off-season additions. Over 82 games, he needs to up his goals and points to really help improve Chicago from a league-worst goals scored from last season.
The franchise center has to top 30 goals at the least and come close to, if not surpass a point-per-game already in his young career. He was very good as a rookie with no experience in the NHL, but now has a year under his belt and much better linemates and teammates on the power play to help.
Philipp Kurashev
The Blackhawks explored their options in the pre-season and settled on Philipp Kurashev as the second line center to kick things off. He proved he is a top-6 talent, but did a lot of his producing alongside Bedard last season.
Kurashev has to not only prove he can be a strong option for the Blackhawks on his own line, he needs to be able to handle the duties that come with being a second line center. The matchups won’t be as grueling all the time with the attention on Bedard and the top line, but Kurashev has the confidence coming off an impressive breakout season in 2023-24.
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