These Are My 5 Big Questions About The Blackhawks For The 2024-25 Season
Last night, and the majority of this preseason have been hard to watch. Literally and figuratively since they aren't on TV yet. I haven't tweeted much about them because I am trying to have a more positive tone this year. That clip above with Bedard standing up for himself was the lone positive last night in a blow out loss. I like to see that. If you're going to be the best player on a team that wins the Cup you need to have bite to your game. That is a fact. Crosby and McDavid have it as star guys. So does MacKinnon. It doesn't have to show up as physical battles or fights (I really don't want to ever see Bedard in a fight unless it's absolutely necessary), but you have to push back against bullshit and compete. It was good to see last night.
I think everyone has accepted that this won't be a good year. Finishing in the bottom 5 and being able to draft a legitimate top 6 forward is a good thing for this rebuild. A bad year is fine, another lost year isn't. This team has to take steps forward in the standings, in their culture, and answer some big questions about the group to give hockey ops and the fans reason to believe they're on their way to being a Stanley Cup contender some day. These are the big questions on and off the ice for the Blackhawks in my opinion
1) Will we be able to watch the games?
What year is this? At this moment Blackhawks fans are going to have a difficult time watching the team because the new network carrying the Blackhawks don't have deals in place with comcast, youtubeTV, or any other major distributor. They signed with RCN. Faulkner and the CHSN CEO have talked about how the games are available over the air...what year is this? The CEO said that 650,000 homes have the over the air ability...bro, who cares? Don't EVER say that again as a positive. It doesn't matter how many homes have it. It matters how your fans consume it. Now, the Cubs/Marquee got a deal done with Comcast at the 11th hour when that network launched so lets just hope that history repeats itself.
The broadcast has been a complete mess for the current regime. Forced out Edzo and Foley (don't believe that those two wanted to leave. I can confirm that they didn't) and replaced them with Vosters and Cohen because their data (or something) said that the fans wanted younger voices...we didn't. So now Faulkner has her third broadcast crew since being named President in December 2020. I believe she's also on her third CMO, CRO, head of PR, and probably other positions. I said...that's not great. Hopefully it's learning from mistakes and third time is the charm. Only time will tell.
2) Is Luke Richardson the right head coach?
It's been impossible to judge Richardson so far. He hasn't had an NHL caliber roster to work with. This year, while the team isn't good...it has probably 25 guys who are legit NHL players. The team has to take strides. Bedard put up absurd numbers last year offensively even though the Blackhawks powerplay was pathetic. Richardson now has Bedard, Teravainen, Hall, Bertuzzi, and Kurashev. The PP HAS to be better. If it's not then there's no excuses.
The Blackhawks were terrible with the puck and without defensively. Teravainen, Martinez, TJ Brodie, etc should help with that. If they're as undisciplined as last year that's a big red flag. Same goes for how they compete. The vets they added should help with that too.
Richardson needs to be judged on schemes and competitiveness this year. He hasn't proven anything so far. If he's not the guy they need to find the right guy quickly
3) Is Connor Bedard more than an offensive juggernaut?
The Blackhawks need him to be. He made the most of his opportunities with the puck last year. It's kind of crazy how many points he put up considering how often the Hawks were pinned down in their own zone last year. That's not all on Bedard, obviously, but he definitely contributed to that. He was careless with the puck. Reckless. That has to be cleaned up. I'd have him with Teravainen all year and ideally with Vlasic and a puck mover on defense, and then a forechecker. I don't hate the idea of Micheyev or AA on that left wing.
4) What is Lukas Reichel?
I am just about ready to give up on Reichel. Super toolsy. He should be better. He re-signed for two years at $1.2M AAV. This is make or break time for him to carve out a role. I don't think he has the compete or the hockey sense. It's not going to be any easier going forward for him either. Hall is back. AA is back. Teravainen and Bertuzzi are in the top 6 for sure. Nazar is knocking on the door. Oliver Moore and others are coming right behind him. It's getting crowded for Reichel and he wasn't drafted by Davidson. At this point I think best case scenario for everyone involved is to have him show enough flashes this year so the Blackhawks can flip him at the deadline or in the summer for a 3rd or something. I hope I am pleasantly surprised.
5) What is Kevin Korchinski?
This is a MUCH more important question than Reichel. This was Davidson's first pick and he had to give up Alex Debrincat to get him. That trade was the first real moment of the rebuild. If you're looking into the future at the Blackhawks defense you're hoping that Korchinski becomes a bonafide top 4 guy. Another guy with a lot of obvious tools. Last year doesn't count. The team was bad and he wasn't ready. Preseason has been VERY rough for him so far. Korchinski belongs in Rockford. He needs Rockford. Vlasic is great. I am very optimistic about Lev and Rinzel. Is Korchinski a Shea Theodore or is he Erik Gustafsson who you can't trust defensively, but is good enough on the PP and is an asset to the team. The Blackhawks also have Del Mastro, Allen, Phillips, and Crevier battling for spots. Seth Jones is also signed through the end of time. Let's all hope that Korchinski comes good and becomes a fixture in the top 4. Too early to judge him, but he isn't close to being that type of guy. We will have a better idea after like 60-90 games in Rockford (him starting in Rockford next year isn't a deathnail in his career by any stretch). You can't miss on top 10 picks though so he better come good.
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BIG year for the organization. I want to be optimistic. The last year it was blind optimism. The goal this year is to have that optimism rooted in reality.