The Chicago Blackhawks started the season well and surprisingly because Connor Bedard took his game to a whole new level. While he isn't the entire team and there were other contributions, he is the heart and soul while also being the driving force of the offense.
Bedard has 19 goals and 44 points in 31 games, but has now missed the past five games. The Blackhawks are 0-5 and have scored eight goals since he has been out of the lineup. The struggles for the team started a bit prior to that and the Blackhawks have sunk to the bottom of the standings, but without the generational talent in the lineup, there seems like there's little hope for goals and wins.
This wasn't expected to be a season where the Blackhawks made the playoffs or competed, but they were expected to be more competitive than last season. It was looking that way as the team was holding down a playoff spot for the first portion of the season, but it will be an extremely tough road back up the standings after recent play and injuries.
So what needs to happen for the Blackhawks? They are a young team with growing pains. This group is already being led by the youth with Bedard, Frank Nazar, Alex Vlasic, Spencer Knight, and even Artyom Levshunov, but all of them are projected to get better as they get older and gain more experience. Naturally, the core group of younger players and even less experienced youth will gradually make the team better from its core.
A team full of young players with no veteran experience is rare and every team generally needs a couple, but players like Nick Foligno, Connor Murphy, and Sam Lafferty have to be moved off of. There are tradeable assets, but while most rebuilders are fine with draft picks, those picks Chicago gets in return could be used to bring in bigger talent to make an even bigger difference.
Players like Tyler Bertuzzi, Ryan Donato, Andre Burakovsky, and Teuvo Teravainen are fine to be kept around for now, but some might still have to be moved before the end of next season. The Blackhawks are at a point where they may be able to swing deals for elite players or sign said players because the young core has taken the next step and are closer to competing. With the Blackhawks and the number of talented players still to come through the ranks, it's a matter of time and a bit of patience, but not too much.
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