The Chicago Blackhawks are not going to be very good this season and that's no surprise to anyone, but there are certain areas of their game and players to be excited about. TSN tiered every team's centers, winger, defensemen, and goaltending, and the Blackhawks found themselves in the bottom half of every position, whether you agree with that or not.
Blackhawks Centers
There are five tiers in each category and the first, center, is where the Blackhawks are actually considered the strongest with players like Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Jason Dickinson, Sam Lafferty, Oliver Moore, and Lukas Reichel.
I can't see Bedard or Nazar playing anywhere but the wing this season, but Dickinson, Lafferty, and Reichel may shift over to the wings at times. If Moore is with the big club, he could get a solid look at the 3C hole. The centers are young, but can handle their own.
The Blackhawks are in the third tier of centers ahead of teams like the Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken, Montreal Canadiens, and Nashville Predators. I disagree with Anaheim, Columbus, Detroit, and Seattle all being lower.
Blackhawks Wingers
This is where the Blackhawks drop and stay put. They rank in tier four with their wingers. Players like Ryan Donato, Teuvo Teravainen, Andre Burakovsky, Tyler Bertuzzi, Ilya Mikheyev, Colton Dach, Nick Foligno, and Landon Slaggert.
The only three teams in the tier lower are the Flames, Blue Jackets, and Sharks. I think they got the Blue Jackets very wrong here, and I'd argue that Chicago could swap places with them in the bottom tier, even though the Sharks are by far the worst. The Blackhawks have a mix of old and young, but they are somewhat productive. There are no star wingers and there may not be any real impressive seasons coming in 2025-26.
Blackhawks Defensemen
Defensemen is an interesting one for the Blackhawks. They are clearly going for the young approach and there are 9-10 d-men who can play in the NHL in their organization. The players projected to fill the six defensive slots are Alex Vlasic, Sam Rinzel, Wyatt Kaiser, Artyom Levshunov, Kevin Korchinski, and Connor Murphy.
Due to the inexperience, I'm not going to argue that this group should be higher than tier four, which is where they sit. The only two teams lower are the Ducks and Sharks. This season might feature plenty of growing pains, but eventually, the Blackhawks' defensive group will be very good down the line.
Blackhawks Goalies
The final position is goaltending. The Blackhawks have a young tandem with Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom if we're expecting Laurent Brossoit is the odd man out after a year-long injury. Again, there is some inexperience despite some solid play by both goalies on the Blackhawks last season. It isn't easy with a weak group in front of them and the majority of the time spent in the defensive zone.
Knight will be the starter and Soderblom backing up, but this team ranks in the fourth tier once again. The only teams with a worse projected goaltending duo are the Buffalo Sabres, Blue Jackets, Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins. I can't argue with any of those, but I think Columbus may surprise with Jet Greaves in the mix.
It is expected that the Blackhawks finish near the very bottom of the standings in 2025-26, so it isn't a surprise to see them in the lower half of every position. Things will get better soon.
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