Blackwell came back with gusto from hernia surgery. Anderson is a smart, honest checking winger who gets a few chances himself.

At the end of the 2023-24 season, Blackhawks veteran leaders Nick Foligno and Seth Jones talked about the team acquiring "identity pieces" to help accelerate its rebuild.

And make sure Chicago doesn't go through another record-setting 53-loss season that left it with the NHL's second worst record.

No one knows which free agents will be on the NHL market on July 1. So first the Blackhawks might lock-in and retain two current forwards who live up to the identity-piece label.

Keep Colin Blackwell, set to become a UFA, and Joey Anderson, set to become an RFA in a month. 

Both can make statements as third- of fourth-line forwards on a 2024-25 team that is expected to post more than the 52 points the Blackhawks had last season. That's what general manager Kyle Davidson has pledged. See following video.

"Muscle Ball" Blackwell

Blackwell returned on Dec. 19 from hernia surgery in March, which was followed by a tougher-than-expected recovery. The stocky 5-foot-9, 190-pound Harvard grad, nicknamed a "muscle ball" by coach Luke Richardson for his gym work, didn't stop rolling once he got back in the lineup.

The 31-year-old Blackwell finished with just eight goals and four assists in 44 games. But he was only a minus-2 on team with a minus-111 goals differential.

Animated and emotional, Blackwell is non-stop bundle of energy. He plays with a feisty edge, maybe created by his height or that he's always felt a little underestimated. He was drafted in the seventh round, 194th overall by San Jose in 2011.

Blackwell makes things happen on the ice and pressures opponents. He also creates scoring chances, even if he often falls just short in finishing on moves against NHL goalies and scored on just 9.1 % of his 88 shots last season. He narrowly missed the net on more.

Blackwell, who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has said he wants to stay close to his adopted home by returning to the Blackhawks. In a bottom-6 energy or penalty-killing forward role, he's a good fit.

Blackwell is finishing a two-year contract that pays $1.2 million. He signed it with Davidson in July 2022 and the forward should be worth keeping with a reasonable raise and term.

"I'm healthy and I'm over the hump," Blackwell said. "I was happy that I came in and played with a little chip on my shoulder has I always have and played the game in a specific way with a lot of energy that kind of helped the team when I came in."

Anderson Honest Winger

The 25-year-old Anderson came to Chicago in a February 2023 trade with Toronto that saw forward Sam Lafferty and defenseman Jake McCabe go to the Maple Leafs.

The Minnesota native quietly found a productive role on the Blackhawks last season on a shutdown line with center Jason Dickinson. The former University of Minnnesota-Duluth Bulldog takes a straight-line, workmanlike approach to the game. 

He posted just five goals and 17 points, skating in just 55 contests because of a shoulder injury he suffered in December. But Anderson was a team-leading plus-5 and would be helpful to help protect leads — assuming the Blackhawks have them more often next season.

Anderson signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with Chicago last June. He's an arbitration-eligible RFA and if Davidson wants to keep him, he's probably working on a deal with Anderson's agent, Jay Grossman, right now.