5 Blackhawks Who Could Turn the Tide in 2024-25

In 2024-25, the Chicago Blackhawks will likely become stronger and more competitive as a result of all of Kyle Davidson’s prudent off-season moves. But while the team should improve overall, five players could really alter its course this season: Taylor Hall is as healthy as can be headed into this campaign for Chicago Blackhawks and could play an essential part in helping his teammates turn things around. After missing 72 games during 2023-24 due to injury, Hall can almost be considered one of the team’s additions, given his minimal involvement with playing time last season. But first and foremost, it’s crucial that Hall remains healthy throughout this season. While Hall’s absence for one or two games won’t cause too many issues for Chicago, any significant period will wreak havoc and impact their ability to produce. Hall may no longer be winning the Hart Trophy, but in 2021-22 when healthy with the Boston Bruins he still scored 20 goals and recorded 61 points despite only playing limited minutes compared to some of his teammates still here such as Connor Bedard and others who remain. At the outset of this season, that might have proven useful; with more options open to him though, Hall just needs to find someone on either his first or second line that resonates. 55 points is an ideal mark to shoot for, given there are other contributors on the Blackhawks who could reach this total. Seth Jones has enjoyed three incredible years with Chicago. He signed a long-term extension as part of the deal to acquire him as he felt Chicago was more competitive. Jones hasn’t exactly been playing like an “ideal number one defenseman”, yet remains as the undisputed first choice on his team. Although some criticize his play as not living up to such expectations, considering he logs over 25 minutes per game on special teams alone while serving on power play/kill/top pairing duties; you have a strong argument in favor of that opinion. His role won’t change this season but now has some extra help! Blackhawks fans hope for a rebound, following his 51 points during 2021-22 and 12 goals and 37 points during 2022-23, then 31 total points last season. As Jones will play on their top power-play unit and see significant minutes, their Blackhawks must improve to be competitive again, meaning he needs to produce offensively more often once again. Jones serves as an anchor on defense and was recognized with All-Star honors previously. The Blackhawks need strong play across the entire ice, starting with Laurent Brossoit who simply needs to outperform Arvid Soderblom last season for them. He doesn’t have much work ahead of him in that regard – being better simply takes practice! No matter what, Brossoit still must perform and provide at least 30 starts as backup to Petr Mrazek; possibly more. He had incredible stats as Winnipeg’s backup goalie but will face different conditions on defence now and have more responsibility in this role. Nobody expects Draisaitl to finish each season with the same.927 save percentage as what he posted during each of the previous two. However, even an improvement from Soderblom’s.879 SV% would represent progress from where we stood last season. To stay healthy throughout his first NHL campaign, Krazek needs some restorative work between games in order to remain injury free throughout this campaign. Brossoit should quickly earn back his coaching staff’s trust upon his return, giving the Blackhawks every chance at victory each night.Connor Bedard came into the NHL as an 18-year-old and made quite an impressionful first impression. He led the Blackhawks with 61 points and tied for second in goals with 22 while appearing in only 68 games. Bedard should play in every game this season and has already shown his determination. Bedard needs to be the standout on his team despite all of their recent additions – which shouldn’t pose any difficulty for him. Chicago will need him to increase both goals and points over 82 games, in order to avoid falling back into league-worst goal scoring numbers last season. At minimum, franchise center should top 30 goals this year while approaching or surpassing one point per game already during his young career. As a rookie with no NHL experience, he performed admirably; now with more experience comes better linemates and teammates on the power play to rely upon for assistance.Philipp KurashevThe Blackhawks conducted extensive preseason research before selecting Philipp Kurashev as their second line center to start off this campaign. Last season, Kurashev demonstrated his prowess as a top-6 talent, yet much of his production came alongside Bedard. To continue contributing for the Blackhawks this season on both lines and as second line center. He must demonstrate both abilities. As Bedard will likely receive much of the focus for scoring this season, Kurashev should benefit from having enjoyed such an outstanding breakout campaign as 2023-24. Make sure to visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site regularly for news, game day coverage, player features and much more about this team – recent headlines include their 2024 Opening Night Roster being unveiled, taking matters into his own hands this season and being greatly underestimated in opening playoff odds odds for next year!