The Chicago Blackhawks have a new number-one defenseman in EA Sports NHL and a goalie who continues to climb the ranks.
On Tuesday, EA Sports NHL 27 revealed its top forward rankings. It included Blackhawks forwards Connor Bedard, Patrick Kane, Frank Nazar, and Tyler Bertuzzi.
With Kane back in the mix, it's a formidable forward group for the sake of the video game. On the real sheet of ice, it will be exciting at first, but they have a lot of development work to do.
On Wednesday, EA Sports then revealed player ratings for the game's top defensemen and goaltenders. With that, the ratings of three Blackhawks players were revealed.
Newly acquired defenseman Bowen Byram is the second-ranked player and top-ranked defenseman with an 87overall rating. That makes him the 123rd-ranked overall player in the game. Only Connor Bedard, who has a 90 overall rating, is a higher-ranked Blackhawks skater.
Alex Vlasic was the other Chicago defenseman revealed, and he comes in with an 84, which makes him the 278th-ranked player in the game.
Spencer Knight is Chicago's third-best player in the game, as he is an 87. That ties him for the 8th-best goalie in the game and the 124th overall player.
The Blackhawks only have four forwards and two defensemen revealed, which means that EA doesn't see this as a great team. With a handful of bottom-five finishes in a row, it makes sense.
The acquisition of Bowen Byram, if he stays healthy and produces, should be a major factor in other defensemen playing well on the team, as well as the young forwards trying to make plays. The forward ranking list would look even thinner without the addition of Kane, and the same can be said about the defense with Byram.
The Blackhawks will have to start winning on the ice through the improvement of their young players if they want to see more players with higher ratings. Until then, these are the stars of the team in the eyes of the NHL's biggest video game franchise.
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