PREVIEW: Chicago Blackhawks vs. St. Louis Blues | 2025-26 Deep Dive 3.0 (Defensemen)

PREVIEW: Chicago Blackhawks vs. St. Louis Blues | 2025-26 Deep Dive 3.0 (Defensemen)

It’s time to go and blow out the blues again in St. Louis. Your Locked On Blackhawks, your daily podcast on the Chicago Blackhawks, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What’s going on, Blackhawks fans? Welcome back to another episode of Lockdown Blackhawks, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now, your number one sports podcasting network, where we bring you your team every day. I’m your host, Jack Bushman. On today’s episode, I’ll preview the matchup between the Blackhawks and the Blues out in St. Louis. And then for segments two and three, it’s part two of Deep Dive 3.0, where I’ll go through some team statistics, as well as the stats and analytics for every Blackhawks defenseman through the opening 30 games this season. But first, have to let you all know that today’s episode is sponsored by FanDuel. Go and visit fanuel.com or download the FanDuel sportsbook app to place your NFL live bets all season long. FanDuel, the game moves fast and so can you. All right, happy Friday Blackhawks fans. For the second time this season, the Blackhawks are out in St. Louis taking on the Blues in this Friday night matchup. The last two meetings between these two teams this season will come at the United Center. puck drop tonight out in St. Louis at 7 PM Central time with the game being televised on ESPN Plus, by the way. So, for anyone out there who doesn’t have CHSN or has been streaming Blackhawks games on the regular so far this year, there’s another avenue for you at least to potentially watch the game here tonight. In the first meeting between the Blackhawks and Blues, I’m sure you all remember pretty darn well that was a dominant 8-3 win in St. Louis back on October 15th. truly one of the most fun Blackhawks games I’ve watched since I’ve been the host of the show. Lucas Riel was named the number one star of the game when he was still a member of the Blackhawks would go on to be traded just like a week later. He had two goals and assist in that game. Connor Baddard had three helpers. Frank Nazar scored a beautiful goal. It was a lot of fun watching the Blackhawks throttle the Blues in their own building. And I feel like the Hawks have a pretty good opportunity to go and get another road win over St. Louis here tonight as the Blues are struggling coming into this one. First off, they’re 114 and seven uh on the season. So, they’ve lost 21 of their opening 32 games and that currently has them fourth to last out in the Western Conference with just 29 points. And then so far in December, they’re two and four in their six games, including an ugly seven to2 loss last night against the Predators out in Nashville. So, this is actually the back end of a back-to-back for St. Louis. Didn’t have, you know, too dreadful of a travel or anything going from St. Louis, uh, excuse me, going from Nashville to St. Louis, but still the Blackhawks should have the advantage in terms of the legs in the front end of their backto back as of course they’ll be back in action tomorrow at the United Center against the Detroit Red Wings. And back tobacks we know haven’t been uh all that great for the Blackhawks so far this season. They’re 0 and4 in their two sets with a three-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken, a nine-to-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, a 6-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, and then on Sunday, the worst performance of the season, and a 7-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. So, yeah, definitely hasn’t been pretty, but a great opportunity to start off this backtoback this weekend here on a great note as the Blues coming off of a awful showing last night. I’m sure they’re not all that encouraged heading into this meeting. So, I do like the Blackhawks chances of picking up a second straight win in St. Louis to open up this season series. As far as the Blackhawks projected lineup goes for tonight, I am recording this prior to the morning skate. However, considering they’re coming off of one of their best showings of the season in that three nothing win over the New York Rangers on Tuesday, I don’t really see any need to go and change up the lineup whatsoever, especially after they only have um 19 healthy skaters on the NHL roster currently following Sam Renzel and Landon Slagger being reassigned to the AHL on Monday. So, I think you know it’s going to be the same as we saw last time out for the Blackhawks. Brian Green, Connor Baddard, and Andre Burikovski as the top line. And I thought they had a really great showing from start to finish. I mentioned in yesterday’s recap show, uh Connor Baddard and Andre Burikovski both had pointblank opportunities in the first period to put the Blackhawks ahead. Igor Shasturkin just made a couple of marvelous saves. Uh but then of course, Burkowski went on to set up Bard for the Hawks. Second goal of the game in the second period. And then Tyler Bertusi was actually out on the ice with uh Baddard and Ryan Green for a shift. That led to the third goal of the game, Bertusi’s 16th tally of the season. So a really active game from the Blackhawks top line. Hopefully they’ll be able to keep that up in enemy territory this evening. As far as the second line goes, Tyler Bertusi, Oliver Moore, and then Frank Nazar in the middle. I thought it was also a pretty notable game from the Blackhawk second line even though they uh technically didn’t wind up on the score sheet because as I just mentioned, Bertusi was on the ice with Baddard and Green for that goal. But I did think the Blackhawks top six in general, those two forward lines were the best in that game against the Rangers. And Frank Nazar, well, he unfortunately, you know, fumbled that uh breakaway chance that he had late in the third period. would have been a great opportunity for him to snap his 17g game drought, but it’s now reached 18 games since he’s last foul in the back of the net. That came all the way back on October 28th, prior to Halloween, not even before Thanksgiving, all the way back before Halloween. But I did agree with Blill’s comments on Nazar regarding how he played in that game uh on Tuesday and also how he’s been playing for the last couple of weeks. He has definitely been more noticeable using his speed more frequently. And we saw that three or four times I thought against the Rangers. And when going through the stats and the analytics for all the forwards in part one of deep dive 3.0 on yesterday’s show, I mentioned that while it has been a I mean relatively quiet and certainly not as noticeable last month or so for Nazar compared to how he started the season, he’s still third on the Blackhawks in scoring. And that’s coming while he doesn’t have a goal in nearly two months now. He’s also shooting 8.8% which I think is likely going to be below his career average with the way that he can shoot the puck. Even though he has had some finishing problems in the NHL, I do feel like that’s something eventually he’s going to figure out. So, while it sucks that Frankie is in this scoring drought, I am encouraged by the way he’s still playing, especially as he’s gotten healthier over these last couple of weeks. And honestly, Blackhawks fans, I wouldn’t be surprised to see that goal drought end here tonight in St. Louis. As I mentioned, scored in the first meeting between these teams at Enterprise Center back in midocctober. Third line for the Blackhawks. Tavo Terrain, Jason Dickinson, Ilia McKayv. Uh, real strong defensive third line there for the Blackhawks. I do wonder at some point in time, I’ve mentioned I feel like Ryan Donado is a better fit for that checking line than Tavo Terrainan is. However, I don’t know if Tavo necessarily fits as well down on the fourth line with guys like Colton Doc and Sam Laferdy, but I I do feel altogether and let me know in the comments section if you feel the same way. I just feel like with Donado being a little bit more of a physical presence out there as well as someone who likes to shoot the puck whereas Tavo Terrain is a pass first player and is a little bit passive out there uh in terms of like board battles and physicality. still a very responsible defensive player and there’s a reason he plays on the penalty kill so often for the Blackhawks. But still, I I do feel like Donado is a better fit there and provides a little bit more goal scoring that can help that line be a bit more opportunistic offensively when they do get those chances in the offensive zone. But maybe I’m nitpicking a little bit there. And then on the fourth line, that leaves Colton Doc, uh, Ryan Donado, and Sam Lafery, who now is looking like a lineup regular here in Chicago, which I’m sure he has to be happy about considering there’s only six defenseman currently on the NHL roster. And then that leaves Dominic Toninado, the man who was recalled from Rockford on Tuesday, which I thought was the right call from the Blackhawks to bring up a veteran forward who doesn’t have to be playing on a nightly basis. can be in that 13th forward role and you’re not going to feel too horrible about it from an organizational standpoint. Maybe Toninado makes his Blackhawks debut up in the NHL as he’s been with the Ice Hogs uh up to this point in time. Maybe that comes tomorrow night in the back end of this backtoback. Maybe they give Laferdy a night off or Colton Doc or someone. Not exactly sure who, but there is a chance I think Dominic Toninado draws in for one of these two games in this weekend backtoback. And then defensively, Blash Hill changed up the defensive pairings for really the first time this season. And uh I don’t know if that was truly, you know, the difference maker. I think altogether the Blackhawks just were much better defensively as a team against the Rangers. But one of their better defensive efforts of the entire season, holding New York to only 21 shots, which ties the lowest that the Blackhawks have allowed in a game so far this season. So no need to go and change things up there. Alex Lassic and Louiesie Krevier as the top pairing that play in a lot of defensive situations. Wyatt Kaiser and Connor Murphy also more leaned on in the defensive zone as well. That leaves Matt Grizzlick and Ardum Levinov to play a lot in the offensive zone. The two best puck movers probably uh for the Blackhawks right now on their blue line along with maybe Wyatt Kaiser, although we haven’t seen that too frequently from him so far this season. And then in goal, I’m gonna guess it’s going to be Spencer Knight here, Blackhawks fans. However, Arvid Solder Bloom was the one that got the start in St. Louis back on October 15th. Went pretty good for him, obviously. But the one thing I do think about is Solder Bloom had an even better performance in the first matchup of the year against the Red Wings, who the Blackhawks are playing tomorrow night. He stopped 45 of 46 shots to pick up the win against his brother Elmer and Detroit in mid November. But what I will say is Solder Bloom has started the back end of both back-to-backs for the Blackhawks so far this year. And obviously that’s been a nightmare. 9-3 loss to Buffalo, 7-1 loss to Anaheim. I don’t think either were necessarily his fault, but maybe Jeff Blasio just kind of wants to change up the mojo there. So, not exactly sure who’s going to be in between the pipes tonight in St. Louis. I could kind of see it going either way. I’m going to SP guest Spencer Knight uh right here, right now though, considering he’s coming off of a shutout and considering the way that Arvid Solder Bloom played against the Red Wings in the first meeting. And then real quick getting into some keys to victory for the Blackhawks. Number one for me tonight is to get shots on goal early and often. Play with that aggressive mentality in the offensive zone. I think that’s kind of gotten away from the Hawks in their last couple of games, but prior to that, there was like a four or five game stretch where they had really done a nice job. And Blashill talked about wanting them to shoot the puck more in the offensive zone. They responded really nicely in the couple of games after that. I think it’s kind of gotten away from them here as of late. And the reason I bring this up is because Jordan Bennington has been getting pulled left and right by Jim Montgomery this year. And a couple of them he hasn’t been very happy about. don’t think he could dispute why he was pulled last night though in Nashville as he gave up six goals. Joel Hawer had to come into the game. So, not entirely sure which of those two is going to get the start for the Blues tonight. But whoever it is, neither have been very good. The Blues have gotten some of the worst goalending in the league this year. Jordan Bennington has an 869 save percentage. He’s, you know, involved in some trade discussions possibly, as well as a lot of the members of the St. Louis Blues are considering their lackluster start and then even Joel Hoffer the backup has an 890 save percentage. So regardless between the two hasn’t been very good this season. So the Blackhawks cannot be too passive in the offensive zone and only register like 20 to 23 shots in this game. I think if they get 30 and test the Blues net minders legitimately good chance that they’re going to come away with a victory. My number two key to victory is to keep using that speed. I really thought it was a differencemaker and the Rangers had a tough time managing it in that game on Tuesday. And not only is St. Louis 31st in the NHL in goals against, but they’re also 30th in the NHL in goals for. They’re bad in both categories. So I I don’t think they’ll be able to keep up with the Blackhawks speed offensively. And if I I think if the Hawks can use their wheels effectively and, you know, get three or more goals tonight, they’re going to come away with another two points at Enterprise Center. Then my third and final key for the Blackhawks is to not let tired legs off of the hook. We’ve seen the Blackhawks a couple of times this year when they’re facing a team who’s on the back end of a back-to-back go and get off to awesome starts in the first period only to let them off the hook and allow the opponent to get right back into the game in the middle frame. Do not let that happen to the Blues here tonight. Divisional games are so big, you want to kick a team while they’re down, go and take it to St. Louis early. Hawks have been really good in the first period this season, but keep your foot on the pedal all the way through just like you did against the Rangers and let’s go and make it two real solid uh team victories in a row here going into the back end of this backtoback. All right, there is my preview of tonight’s matchup out in St. Louis against the Blues 700 p.m. Central time on ESPN Plus. Coming up in just a moment, Hawks fans, it’s time for part two of Deep Dive 3.0 know where I’ll go through some Blackhawks team stats and analytics as well as the same with all of the defensemen. But first, I got to talk to you all about one of today’s sponsors here on Lockdown Blackhawks, which is FanDuel. NFL Sundays move fast and one big play can suddenly make everything feel different. But that’s what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You’re not just watching the game, you’re reacting to it in real time. And with FanDuel, you can place bets right as the action unfolds. every drive, every momentum swing, in every highlight moment. And live betting is best when the game starts to shift. When a receiver gets hot, a defense tightens up, or the momentum flips immediately after a turnover. FanDuel lets you go and jump right into the moment so that you can bet next touchdown scores, drive results, totals, and more. It keeps you locked into every snap, every drive, and every possibility. So, if you want to be right in the middle of all the action this season, go and visit fanuel.com or download the FanDuel sportsbook app to place your NFL live bets all season long. FanDuel, the game moves fast and so can you. Per usual before I get into segment too, just a quick reminder, if you like what you’re watching here today and aren’t already subscribed to the channel, please make sure to go and do that for me. It’s 100% free, will not cost you anything, and will help me reach my goal of 3,000 subscribers before 2025 comes to a close. Segment two here on today’s show. It’s time for part two of Deep Dive 3.0, where I’ll go through the stats and analytics for every Blackhawks defenseman, as well as some team stats here for the 2526 campaign real quick. Starting with the Blackhawks team Cory4 percentage. And as I broke down on yesterday’s show, for anyone who doesn’t know what Corsy4 is, it’s shot attempts against vers shot attempts. Well, shot attempts for vers shot attempts against at even strength. Ideally, you’d like to be on the right side of the 50% Mendoza line. The Blackhawks are at 46.16% as a team. Majority of their forwards below 46% when I broke it down on yesterday’s episode. I want to say uh like Oliver Moore, uh Ryan Donado, only a couple players were up around 47% as a whole. And as a team, that ranks 29th out of 32 clubs. The Blackhawks have rifled 1,268 shot attempts uh through their opening 30 games at even strength while they’ve given up 1,479. So largely the opposing team is still getting more shot attempts and the Blackhawks are defending a little bit more in general at even strength this season. However, as far as the goals for goes, the Blackhawks have 61 goals for at even strength compared to only 66 against, which is 21st in the NHL, giving them uh 48.03 goals for percentage. So despite um the opponent getting more shot attempts regularly than they do, the Blackhawks are pretty even at getting the finished product, which you know tells you I think they’re a pretty opportunistic bunch. And when I broke down a lot of the forward shooting percentage yesterday, I don’t think that should be a surprise. And that’s why I say the Blackhawks need to be shooting the puck more in the offensive zone. Next, we get to expected goals for and this is where the Blackhawks kind of struggle. uh four uh 29th in team Corsy4 percentage. They’re 31st out of 32 teams in expected goals for and that’s largely because they are getting out chance. The opponent is getting more high danger chances. They’re getting more shot attempts. But the Blackhawks are still keeping up at getting the finished product and in general in scoring chances like I just mentioned also 31st in the NHL as they’ve generated 230 at even strength and given up 316 um at five on five as well. So what do those stats tell us about the Blackhawks through 30 contests? Well, they’re a very opportunistic bunch like I just said and I think a lot of that is Connor Baddard being a very dangerous player because obviously these numbers don’t weigh how dangerous those opportunities opposing teams or the Blackhawks generate, but when Connor Vdard gets dangerous opportunities, he’s putting them in the back of the net or making a play to set up one of his teammates very often. And I think, you know, when you look at the shooting percentage for the rest of the Blackhawks, not shooting the puck frequently, but when they get quality opportunities, they’re doing a pretty good job at cashing in on them. Another part of that, and how the Blackhawks are in a playoff spot despite some of these analytics, is undoubtedly their goalending. Spencer Knight has been awesome. And while the Blackhawks have lost more close contests or uh in these last couple of weeks, that was something they were really good at uh earlier on in the season, winning a lot of those close contests and finding ways to score key goals in the third period while also getting stellar goalending. Knight has been a huge reason why the Blackhawks have been so competitive this season. He’s been a big reason why they’ve won a lot of games, hence him being in the VZNA trophy conversation. and like I uh broke down a couple of days ago is right there seemingly battling with Jeremy Swayman for their third goalender on Team USA’s roster. And I think another big part of how the Blackhawks have been successful despite some of these underlying analytics and why people are, you know, have been expecting a little bit of a dip maybe why this recent stretch the last three weeks isn’t all that surprising. Well, they have been getting great special teams both on the p great special teams play, excuse me. Both on the power play and the penalty kill. The Blackhawks have been really good at cashing in on the man advantage. Tyler Berusi and Connor Baddard have been their two biggest difference makers there. And you want to see your best off player, your best offensive players uh contribute when you have a man advantage. And then the penalty kill has been a real big strength for the Blackhawks through their opening 30 contest. one of the best in the entire league. They have so many great penalty killers, whether it be Jason Dickinson, Ilia McKayv, Tavo Terrainan, Frankie Nazar and his wheels, right? Uh so getting real good special teams play has also helped the Blackhawks win a lot of these close games or nights where they’ve been getting outshot and maybe the analytics don’t look great, they’re winning the special teams battle to help them pick up two points or at least get into overtime and pick up one point to help them out in the standings. So that’s kind of what the team stats tell us a little bit through these opening 30 games. Time to get into each and every member of the Blackhawks defenseman through the first 30 contests this year. Starting in order of points produced. So that means Ardum Levanov, the 2024 number two overall pick, is the first one to be getting a breakdown. He’s played in 29 of the Blackhawks opening 30 games. had that healthy scratching uh in the home opener against the Montreal Canadians and has responded really well for the most part ever since. In his 29 games, he’s got one goal, finally got that first NHL tuck against the Minnesota Wild. And he’s chipped in for 13 assists, which leads all Blackhawks defenseman and in general is third on the team. And that gives him 14 points, which is currently sixth on the roster as well. minus4 plus minus rating for Ardum Levchenov defensively as I’ll kind of get into a little bit more here. Uh is still a work in progress. 20 penalty minutes in 29 games for Levinov. Thought you know staying out of the penalty box was more so a problem for him in the first couple weeks of the season. Think he’s done a pretty solid job overall of cleaning that up recently. Eight power play points for Arty. He’s been uh nicely productive quarterbacking the top power play unit ever since he replaced Sam Renzel, which was the right decision by Jeff Blashill. Hasn’t maybe been like the primary driver of play is I I think a large amount of his power play points and assists in general have been secondary helpers this year. However, I I think he’s undoubtedly the best Blackhawks defenseman already at uh perusing the offensive zone, setting, you know, like pick plays and just recognizing how plays are being developed out there. He is involving himself in helping the Blackhawks score those goals, even if he’s not generating the final tally or picking up the primary assist. But I do think he’s been a good puck mover uh as the defenseman on the top power play unit. 37 shots on goal for RD. I feel like he’s picked this up in recent weeks. I do like him having more of a shoot first mentality from the blue line. Only shooting 2.7% though, which I do feel like is going to go up. He’s got a pretty good shot from the blue line. Um, and has been getting a lot of good chances that goenders have been just barely getting a piece of averaging 16 minutes and 4 seconds 47 seconds of time on ice. His role has been expanded, especially since Renzel was moved down from the top deep pairing. And then Levino chipped in for 28 blocks along with 27 hits. been willing to, you know, dish out the body a little bit, which I like to see for a player of his size at a young age and has been a willing shot blocker as well. And then getting into the analytics for Levino, some of the better analytics of any Blackhawks defenseman, 47.9 Corsy4 percentage. Good stuff there. Uh mentioned earlier, the Blackhawks team percentage on average is 46.6%. So, he’s above that. He’s been on the ice for 18 goals four to 18 goals against. 18 goals four at even strength in 29 games I think is pretty darn good. However, it’s probably too many goals against considering that uh 71.1% of his faceoffs come in the offensive zone. He’s still getting sheltered by Jeff Blasio, which, you know, probably won’t happen as much now that there’s only six defenseman on the roster, but considering how the pairings are right now, he and Grizzlick, the two offensive defenseman, while Kaiser is with Murphy, Vic is with Crevier, both those guys, uh, all four of those guys, I should say, more so known for their defensive play and get a lot of starts in the defensive zone. So, uh, even though there’s only six, if Levino is going to still be playing with Grizzlick, I think that’s how Blill is going to continue to use him. And his expected goals for percentage 44.9 xGF and has been on the ice for 157 scoring chances for to 173 scoring chances against. So, a fine dispersion there. However, like I said, it’s probably too many scoring chances to give up and probably too many goals against considering, you know, seven out of every 10 zone starts that he takes comes in the offensive zone. And I know a decent amount of his shifts come on the fly as well where he’s got to do some uh offensive work and do some defending in his own zone. But I still think, you know, there’s definitely room for room for growth for Levino defensively, but that’s something that’s just going to take time. He’s still only 20 20 years old. uh came immediately out of the NHL draft into the professional level. So, it’s just we got to be a little patient with Arty defensively, but offensively he already knows how to maneuver around the offensive zone and has been the most impactful offensive defenseman on the Blackhawks so far this year. Next, we get into Louis Krebier who is second among all Blackhawks defenseman with 11 points this year. First with three goals, one of just two defenseman with uh multi with multiple goals on the season. also has chipped in with eight assists which is second among all Blackhawks defenseman as well plus seven plus minus rating for Louis creier which is really impressive when you go through these analytics when I’ll get which I’ll get to in just a second 35 penalty minutes for Krevier think there have been times where he makes needs to make some smarter decisions but altogether uh one of those has come from fighting and he is someone that plays a lot defensively so it’s hard to kind of get on him still as a young defenseman and all 11 of his points that he scored this year have come from the even strength variety. So Ardum Levchenov, eight of his 14 power play, eight of his 14 points have come on the power play. That gives him six primary points on the season. Luis Creier has 11 even strength points for the Blackhawks. I mean, super impressive stuff there for Big Lou. 39 shots on goal as well, more than Ardum Lechinov has recorded. Uh is that the most among Blackhawks defenseman? 39. And I think it’s yeah, it’s tied with Sam Renzel, who’s now in Rockford, of course, for the most among Blackhawks defenseman, despite only averaging 14 minutes and 17 seconds of time on ice and having 73.9% of his starts come in the defensive zone. I I really cannot speak highly enough about Louis Creier, someone who coming into this year, I really didn’t think had a chance to be a puzzle piece here in Chicago, but he’s proven me wrong and has been really solid on both ends of the ice so far this year. uh 21 block shots, 40 hits. Really good stuff from Louis Creier. Next, we get to Sam Renzel, who even though I know is in Rockford right now, do still want to go through his stats and analytics. Played in 28 of the Blackhawks opening 30 games. One goal, seven assists for eight points. It’s third among all Blackhawks defenseman. Plus zero plus minus rating with 28 penalty minutes. Did think he kind of struggled a bit, especially as someone who plays more in offensive situations. It was staying out of the sinbin. Also had no power play points while quarterbacking the top power play unit to open up the season. Definitely impacted the decision to him being not only demoted from the top pairing but being reassigned to Rockford. 39 shots on goal along with Louis creier did feel like Samronel did a good job getting the puck on net. Just wasn’t able to get the finished product too frequently just like Ardam Levinov shooting 2.6%. averaging 16 minutes and 32 seconds of time on ice. His role dipped massively after playing over 20 minutes, I want to say, in four or five of the opening nine contests. Did chip in for 29 block shots, added 26 hits as well, which I like to see out of Renzel using his size, even though I don’t expect him ever to be a physical defenseman in his own zone. Willing to at least throw the body around at times. And then getting into the analytics for him. 46.1 Corsy four percentage. Pretty solid for this Blackhawk squad. Been on the ice for 20 goals, four to 20 goals against. 44.5 expected goals for percentage though. That’s because he was on the ice for 163 scoring chances for to 210 against at even strength. Probably too many scoring chances given up and probably too many goals against. Similarly to Ardam Levinov for a guy who had 62.2% 2% of his zone starts coming in the offensive zone. Um that’s, you know, probably why there was a pretty good course for percentage for Sam Renzel, but not as great of an expected goals for percentage there. So definitely has to kind of sh up his defense a little bit and get his swagger and confidence back with the puck on his stick during his time in the AHL with Rockford. All right, Blackhawks fans. Going to take a quick break, but when I return, I’ll get into the stats and analytics for the rest of the Blue Line. But first, got to talk to you all about another one of today’s sponsors here on Lockdown Blackhawks, which is Monarch. The holidays are amazing, but they can also get overwhelming fast. With travel, gifts, parties, and year-end expenses, it’s real easy to lose track of your money this time of the year, and that’s exactly why Monarch has been such a gamecher for me. If you want to go and get your finances under control this holiday season, then you need to be using Monarch. Rated Wall Street Journal’s best budgeting app of 2025, Monarch is an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, simple dashboard. Both available on your phone and your laptop. In just minutes, you can check your net worth, link all of your accounts, and keep track of contributions before deadlines arrive. So, don’t don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks any longer. Go and use our promo code lockdown NHL in allcaps atmonarch.com in your browser and you’ll also get half off on your first year. Again, that’s 50% off on your first year at monarch.com when you use our promo code lockdown NHL in all caps. Segment three. Picking up where I left off. The next defenseman to get into is none other than number 72, Alex Vlic, who’s played in 29 of the opening 30 games, missed the season opener due to an injury, but has been in the lineup every night ever since then. And he’s tallied two goals and three assists for just five points, which is a little disappointing. Although similarly to Ryan Donado, but obviously as a defenseman, Blic wasn’t going to be having nearly the same role that he played last year for the Hawks when he was getting time on the second power play unit, even on the top power play unit after Seth Jones was traded and before Sam Renzel arrived. So knew it was going to be hard to replicate the 30 points I believe that Vassic put up last year. However, I have been uh don’t want to talk too harshly on him, but I have been a little disappointed by Alex Lassic’s game so far this year. minus 7 plus minus rating, which I know does come with the territory with the ice time and playing so often defensively, but still I I don’t feel like he’s been as consistently fluid in the defensive zone as we’ve seen from him in the past couple of years. Only five penalty minutes though, which I’ll give him credit for, aside from a fiveminute fighting major against the Calgary Flames where I believe it was McKenzie Weaguer that he dropped the glove with. hasn’t taken a single penalty this year, which is incredible for a guy who plays on the penalty kill, plays in defensive situations, first on the team in ice time. Like, that’s really good stuff there out of number 72. No power play points this year for Alex Vlic. Doesn’t even play on the second pen power play unit any longer. Uh 28 shots on goal in 29 games played. That’s something I continue to talk about that he needs to work on. And he’s shooting 7.1% has two goals with those 28 shots. And I know most of his action comes in the D zone, but I do still feel like as someone who uses his wheels and play recognition pretty well on the cycle offensively, doesn’t shoot the biscuit too often. Uh 21 minutes and 14 seconds of time on ice. I mentioned that leads all Blackhawk skaters. 51 block shots leads the team in that category as well. Chipped in with 15 hits. never going to be a strong suit of last week’s game despite his size, but I would like to see him use it a little bit more like Levchin and like Sam Renzel. Neither, excuse me, I got the hiccups all of a sudden. Neither of those three are ever going to be overtly physical players, but when you have that size, you got to know how to use it, especially when this team is going to get to Stanley Cup playoff time and the physicality only wraps up. 44.6 Cory4 percentage for Vlic, which I think for the role that he does play is pretty decent. been on the ice for 16 goals, four to 25 goals against. Probably a couple too many there. 40.6 expected goals for percentage. Not very good at all, but again, not that surprising for someone who plays so often in the Dzone. And for someone who does, uh the 194 scoring chances, four to 238 scoring chances against when Velic has been on the ice honestly isn’t as big of a dispersion as I expected for a player who gets 72.6% 6% of his zone starts in the D zone. Next, that takes us to Matt Grizzlick, who’s played in all 30 of the Blackhawks games after signing a contract with the team after being on a PTO to enter training camp. No goals though, still for Grizzlick, five assists. Hasn’t been too involved offensively. However, has been on the right side of the plus minus ledger more times than not. Plus seven plus minus rating, only 14 penalty minutes. kind of like Levinov had a problem taking penalties early but has cleaned that up in the past month or so. Uh four of his five points have come from the even strength variety. He has one short-handed assist which came on Tuesday’s game. Uh now getting time on the second power play unit. Would like to see him after being one of the most productive power play defenseman in the league last year. Would like to see him help that unit out a little bit more. 32 shots on goal for Grizzlick as well in 30 games played considering he doesn’t play all that frequently. Even if it does mostly come in the offensive zone, I’ve been pretty happy with averaging 15 minutes and 50 seconds of time on ice. Chipped in for 26 blocks, which you like to see 13 hits. I mean, he’s like 510, 5’11 and nearly has as many hits as Alex Blassic. That’s kind of the stuff that I’m talking about there. But Grizzlick is the best analytical player on the Blackhawk so far this year. 49.6 cory four percentage. Been on the ice for 24 goals, four to only 18 against in 30 games played. Real good stuff there from Grizzlick as well as a 48.7 expected goals four percentage and he’s been on the ice for 192 scoring chances four to 214 against and while Levinov you know his offensive zone start percentage is up in the 70s Renzel is up in the 60s Matt Grizzl is only 58.6 six. So, while he still does play predominantly in offensive situations, is not as much as those other two youngsters that I just mentioned. And he’s been the better defender between the two. Only 18 goals for uh at even strength that Grizzlick has been on the ice for this year. Been on the ice for 24 goals for plus seven plus minus rating. Even if he’s not like a key contributor, still is doing well in those situations and helping his team out in the Ozone. Then we get to Wyatt Kaiser. He’s played in all 30 games, only one goal which came on Saturday against the uh excuse me, came on fri or Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings in the front end of that quick twoame series out west. A little disappointed that he hasn’t chipped in more offensively, only four points as well, uh four assists as well, excuse me, giving him five points. That’s tied with Alex Vlic and Matt Grizzlick. Definitely did not think that would be the case through the opening 30 games when entering the season. But Kaiser has been an effective player for the Blackhawks. I don’t mean to talk like down on him because he’s been really good on both sides, but I do feel like defensively hasn’t been as great the last two weeks as it was in the earlier portion of the season, leading to he and Ardum Levchin being split up. But Kaiser still has a plus two plus minus rating. Has only uh taken 16 penalty minutes, which is really good stuff. doesn’t play on the power play, which I understand when you have Matt Grizzlick and you have Vassic and when Renzel was up in the NHL at the same time, those guys are going to get the priority over Kaiser. So, that definitely, you know, is a part of his offensive numbers not being maybe as high even though he wasn’t getting like power play time last year or really hasn’t in general since being at the pro scene. Um, definitely still think there is more that he can offer offensively. 28 shots on goal. That’s another category where I think he can be chipping in a little bit more. 3.6 shooting percentage on the year, averaging 19 minutes and 16 seconds of time on ice. And while he does play more so in defensive situations, 59.7% of his zone starts come in the D zone, he’s still playing a decent amount off uh in the opposing end. So would like to see him shoot the puck a little bit more and be more of a contributor offensively. Chipped in with 28 block shots, though. Does have 20 hits. Just a kind of guy that a jack of all trades type of guy that can give you a little bit of everything. And then getting into Kaiser’s analytics, 44.9 Corsy4 percentage. Ho h would like that to be a little bit better for his capabilities. 21 goals for to 21 goals against, 43.3 expected goals, four percentage, and has been on the ice for 183 scoring chances for to 238 scoring chances against. though. Uh, while he has been good defensively, I do still think Kaiser can be a little bit better. Um, but again, not too surprising his stats are where they are considering 60% of his zone starts come in the D zone. And then last, but certainly not least, we get to the veteran Conor Murphy. Played in all 30 games played, only has three points on the season, no goals, three assists. Really doesn’t offer much offensively at this point of his career. only has a minus5 plus minus rating though which quite honestly for his role I I’m fairly happy with uh 21 penalty minutes too hasn’t gone to the box too much I feel like this season 27 shots on goal as well for Murphy in 30 games played I mean the fact that uh he’s right there with Alex Vlic right there with you know Ardum Levino that’s why again I keep saying on these deep dives that those guys got to shoot the puck more because Murphy has 27 and 30 games while only averaging 15 minutes of time on ice per game. And 82.4% of his zone starts, most of any Blackhawks defenseman come in the defensive zone. Hence his 40 blocks, which is second on the team. Uh chipped in for 26 hits as well. And honestly, given how much he plays in the Dzone, his analytics aren’t too poor. 44.6 Corsy4 percentage. Uh which is right there with Wyatt Kaiser. only been on the ice for eight goals for doesn’t give you much offensively. Doesn’t play a lot in the offensive zone, but he’s only been on the ice for 13 even strength goals against in 30 games. I know it’s a minimal role on the third pairing. That’s pretty darn good from Conor Murphy. Uh 44.9 expected goals for percentage better than Wyatt Kaiser, which is a little surprising. He’s been on the ice for 124 scoring chances for to 155 scoring chances against, which I think is a pretty fine dispersion considering again how much he plays in the defensive zone. All right, that is going to take care of deep dive 3.0 and today’s episode of Lockdown Blackhawks. If you stayed with me all the way up until the very end, thank you all very much. You’re a real trooper. Greatly appreciate each and every one of you. Make sure that you’re subscribed to Lockdown Blackhawks on YouTube. go and follow Lockdown Blackhawks for free as well, wherever you may be listening to your podcast. So that way um you can get the latest episodes whenever they become available, whether you’re on your way to work, driving back home from work, on your lunch break, whatever it may be. If you want to check me out on social media, you can find me at Jack Bushman 2 for my personal account. My Strictly Blackhawks account can be found at Talkenhockey for all the latest Blackhawks news and updates. Until tomorrow’s episode, everyone. Yes, we’ll be having a show dropping tomorrow, recapping this game against the Blues and previewing the back end of the back-to-back on Saturday night against the Detroit Red Wings. Until then, everyone, stay safe. Enjoy the rest of your Fridays. I’ll see you next time on the Lockdown Blackhawks podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Friday’s episode begins with a preview of the Chicago Blackhawks’ matchup with the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center. Host Jack Bushman breaks down the Blackhawks’ struggles in back-to-backs, both teams’ projected lineups, and keys to victory in St. Louis. The episode concludes with Part 2 of Deep Dive 3.0, breaking down the stats and analytics for the Blackhawks’ defensemen this season. All that and more on Locked On Blackhawks. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.

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