Breaking down most encouraging, discouraging trends of the Blackhawks’ season
February 10, 2026
Breaking down most encouraging, discouraging trends of the Blackhawks’ season
2 comments
I will go by the same points Pope mentions.
Preamble: on pace for 76 points. This was by far around the most common prediction people made about the Hawks season, including most of us here
Encouraging: Bedard’s breakout. No one will argue that.
Discouraging: none of the young three defensemen stepped up to look to be a star. Rinzel not being ready was disappointing. Korchinski not being ready was unsurprising. But Levshunov looks to be the least NHL ready 2nd overall pick possibly in modern NHL history. You do not normally need to bench a 2nd overall pick for weeks to teach them basic fundamentals of how to play defense. What is Levshunov’s potential? Still in the air but what is scary is just how far back he is starting from.
Encouraging: Kaiser and Crevier. Eh, its getting overblown but they have not been critical weaknesses either. They would not be in top 4 on a contending team but there certainly isnt anything better in the Hawks system, not by a mile.
Discouraging: Hawks are at or near worst in the league in every analytical category. Their improved point total is mostly on the back of Knight, Bedard, the PK, and the fact it’s being compared to a team that was being coached by Luke Richardson for a big chunk of the season. Theres still soooo far to go. Blashill says their team analytics are a little better than the public models but there were stories about this earlier in the year – the private models are more accurate but the general conclusions arent much different.
Encouraging: Blashill. He is 10,000% better than Richardson and at least 200% better than Sorensen. Also his facial expressions are hilarious. I hope he doeant play poker. I am sure there are things to criticize but I think any negative has to be placed against the backdrop of the terrible roster he has to work with.
Discouraging: Nazar. I guess we’ll see. He hasnt been very good. The drive has been missing. They are moving him away from Bedard when the season resumes.
Encouraging: Knight. Without him the Hawks are a 55 point team.
Discouraging: Colorado, Minnesota, and Dallas. Meh lets see who is left when the Hawks get back to contending in 2029 or so.
Encouraging: the rest of the west. Guess we’ll see.
2 comments
I will go by the same points Pope mentions.
Preamble: on pace for 76 points. This was by far around the most common prediction people made about the Hawks season, including most of us here
Encouraging: Bedard’s breakout. No one will argue that.
Discouraging: none of the young three defensemen stepped up to look to be a star. Rinzel not being ready was disappointing. Korchinski not being ready was unsurprising. But Levshunov looks to be the least NHL ready 2nd overall pick possibly in modern NHL history. You do not normally need to bench a 2nd overall pick for weeks to teach them basic fundamentals of how to play defense. What is Levshunov’s potential? Still in the air but what is scary is just how far back he is starting from.
Encouraging: Kaiser and Crevier. Eh, its getting overblown but they have not been critical weaknesses either. They would not be in top 4 on a contending team but there certainly isnt anything better in the Hawks system, not by a mile.
Discouraging: Hawks are at or near worst in the league in every analytical category. Their improved point total is mostly on the back of Knight, Bedard, the PK, and the fact it’s being compared to a team that was being coached by Luke Richardson for a big chunk of the season. Theres still soooo far to go. Blashill says their team analytics are a little better than the public models but there were stories about this earlier in the year – the private models are more accurate but the general conclusions arent much different.
Encouraging: Blashill. He is 10,000% better than Richardson and at least 200% better than Sorensen. Also his facial expressions are hilarious. I hope he doeant play poker. I am sure there are things to criticize but I think any negative has to be placed against the backdrop of the terrible roster he has to work with.
Discouraging: Nazar. I guess we’ll see. He hasnt been very good. The drive has been missing. They are moving him away from Bedard when the season resumes.
Encouraging: Knight. Without him the Hawks are a 55 point team.
Discouraging: Colorado, Minnesota, and Dallas. Meh lets see who is left when the Hawks get back to contending in 2029 or so.
Encouraging: the rest of the west. Guess we’ll see.
Our longest winning streak being only 3 games. 😢