We have a main course to explore in a bit, so this opening will be brief. But as of this writing on Dec. 1 and the Chicago Blackhawks currently sit in a playoff spot — kind of. They occupy the second wild card spot if you account for the fact that their 27 points have game in one fewer game (25) than it’s taken three other teams out West to amass 27 points (Utah, San Jose, Edmonton). If the figures are based on points percentage alone, then the second wild card spot actually goes to the Winnipeg Jets, who have 26 points in 24 games. Pick your favorite stat!

That the Hawks reside there after a bleaker stretch of hockey during the back half of November should offer additional encouragement for those eyeing the Blackhawks playing meaningful games come March and April. Will they get there? Excellent question, one requiring an answer longer than there’s time for at the moment. Early surges have Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota atop the Central Division — and the entire conference — and we’re far enough into the season where the gaps those three teams built for themselves will be increasingly difficult to overcome. But there are currently seven teams in the West occupying spots 7-13 in the conference standings, with a point spread of just three between all seven, and the Hawks smack in the middle of that slog. They’re very much in the hunt right now with the potential for that search to continue into the coldest parts of the calendar. That’s a significant change from the rest of this decade and one we’ll gladly accept in the present, leaving the future to be addressed as it comes.

The Week That Was

Wednesday, Nov. 26: Wild 4, Blackhawks 3

This would’ve been a delightful pair of points to earn. Frustrating to not tally both.

Friday, Nov. 28: Predators 4, Blackhawks 3

How do the Predators always manage to be so damn annoying, no matter where they are in the standings?!

Sunday, Nov. 30: Blackhawks 5, Ducks 3

Watching Bedard chirp every Duck within earshot as he damn near single-handedly willed the Hawks to victory made for a perfect cap to the holiday weekend (p.s. Go Bears).

Moving Mountains

Time for that aforementioned main course, as we dust off the ol’ Number Munchers series to examine some of the deeper numbers behind the Hawks start to the season. We’re going to keep a similar format as from the end of last season, which included the 2023-24 season as a whole and split the 2024-25 season into the Richardson (26 games) and Sorensen (56 games) eras for comparison’s sake. Chicago’s played 25 games this season and the 27 points it’s tallied is the most it’s had at this point since the COVID-shortened 2021 season.

We’ll start with the 5-on-5 numbers, where the Blackhawks currently have a positive goal differential with 55 goals scored and 53 allowed this season:

Stat2023-24Rank2024-25 under
RichardsonRank2024-25 under
SorensenRank2025-26RankCF%43.71Last44.72Last43.8Last46.4926thSF%43.5531st46.8528th43.11Last45.6128thSCF%41.6731st43.4731st41.67Last45.3830thHDCF%39.84Last42.28Last41.38Last44.1428thGF%36.8831st44.0928th41.2931st50.9311thxGF%42.3531st45.0529th42.14Last46.2227thSH%6.99Last7.5628th9.996th11.026thSV%0.90825th0.91513th0.89230th0.91110th

Not sure if we can call this “significant” progress but there is progress nonetheless. Chicago is finally out of last place in so many of these categories after occupying those dungeon spots consistently for the last handful of seasons. The shot and save percentages remain the biggest outliers, indicative of the plus goaltending and puck luck that’s helped Chicago at times through the first few months of this season and part of the reason why this and other corners of the internet were suggesting a regression was due. The modest improvement in these numbers is a decent start but there is plenty of space left for further upward trajectory of these possession metrics.

Let’s switch the numbers to rates and see what Chicago’s 5-on-5 offense has been generating this season:

Stat2023-24Rank2024-25 under
RichardsonRank2024-25 under
SorensenRank2025-26RankCF/6050.76Last51.19Last47.78Last52.5625thSF/6025.3330th25.530th23.04Last24.9123rdSCF/6022.72Last21.93Last21.77Last24.0128thHDCF/608.82Last8.3831st8.87Last9.7827thxGF/602.11Last2.1331st2.09Last2.4127th

Again: some improvement, but probably not a significant one. How about defense?

Stat2023-24Rank2024-25 under
RichardsonRank2024-25 under
SorensenRank2025-26RankCA/6065.3830th63.2927th61.3224th60.6425thSA/6032.8230th28.9426th30.4131st29.829thSCA/6031.831st28.5126th30.4731st29.0529thHDCA/6013.3131st11.4325th12.56Last12.4827thxGA/602.8729th2.5924th2.8631st2.8227th

Similar story here as well. There’s a mild step down from the Richardson era of the prior season but that team was so deep into a defensive shell that it was damn near incapable of generating offensive opportunities at the other end of the ice. This current iteration of the Hawks is not so overly committed to defensive play, which means chances are occurring at both ends, admittedly more often in Chicago’s own end. But that seems to be more a result of youthful mistakes than systemic issues.

Let’s look at special teams next, starting with the power play:

Stat2023-24Rank2024-25 under
RichardsonRank2024-25 under
SorensenRank2025-26RankCF/6093.929th90.3329th81.38Last90.2931stSF/6047.9430th47.5123rd44.2430th46.9929thSCF/6052.9824th56.9118th46.8230th54.3922ndHDCF/6025.0416th27.678th21.3124th20.0626thxG/607.5920th8.2817th6.5431st6.7132ndSH%12.4225th17.589th22.631st20.223rd

Another season with a shooting percentage near the top of the league, making up for a relative lack of shot/chance generation. Are the Hawks having another season of puck luck or are they just being extra selective about when they move the puck towards the net, leading to that unusually high shot percentage? Feels like it’s closer to the former than the latter, but whether or not the Hawks fall from their current spot at No. 5 in the league with a 24.32 percent conversation rate on the power play will tell that story.

On to the penalty kill:

Stat2023-24Rank2024-25 under
RichardsonRank2024-25 under
SorensenRank2025-26RankCA/6093.83rd93.497th98.6715th88.024thSA/6051.59th50.9917th51.6217th46.655thSCA/6054.316th59.4922nd57.6215th49.896thHDCA/6024.9718th26.8424th26.1722nd27.9925thxGA/607.469th7.6811th8.3217th8.6219thSV%0.8331st0.8777th0.84717th0.87814th

The initial concern here was that the trend of goalies bailing out the Hawks this season was going to apply to the PK as well but that doesn’t appear to the case. Chicago has done a solid job of suppressing the quantity of shots and chances against, although that lower ranking in high-danger chances suggests opposing power plays are still creating quality scoring chances. Chicago’s PK is currently seventh in the league at 84.1 percent, so we’ll have to see how these numbers move as the season continues.

Overall, it’d be fair to classify Chicago’s 5-on-5 play as mildly improved from prior seasons, while the special teams are receiving quality results via processes that are decent enough but still have areas for continued improvement. It’ll be interesting to see if this youthful Hawks roster gets more comfortable at the NHL level as this season continues and those 5-on-5 stats trend up a little more than they are right now, or maybe they’ll all hit a rookie wall around game 50 or 60 and those numbers will slide back towards the basement again as the season continues.

Guess we’ll find out!

The Week That Will Be

Tuesday, Dec. 2: Blackhawks at Golden Knights

Probably better to start the trip out West in Vegas then end it there, right?

Thursday, Dec. 4: Blackhawks at Kings

The first meeting between these teams in Chicago was a slog and it’ll probably be a similar story this time. But hopefully with a better result.

Saturday, Dec. 6: Blackhawks at Kings

No, that’s not a typo: Chicago plays the Kings in back-to-back games this week.

Sunday, Dec. 7: Blackhawks at Ducks

Based on Sunday’s outing, this one could get spicy early.

Donation Update

Back at the start of the season, this corner of the internet pledged to donate $1 for every Hawks goal scored this season to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights, an organization with a stated mission of “dedicated to promoting the rights of immigrants and refugees to full and equal participation in the civic, cultural, social, and political life of our diverse society” which became a much more pressing issue over the last few months in Chicago — and will continue to be so in the months ahead. We’re 25 games into the season and the Blackhawks have scored 80 goals, so matching that number led to a donation of $160 to the ICIRR earlier today. The holiday season is upon us so, if you can spare it, now would be as good a time as any to throw a few bucks their way to help an organization that is helping so many people who need that assistance right now.

Stat2023-24Rank2024-25 underRichardsonRank2024-25 underSorensenRank2025-26RankCF/6093.929th90.3329th81.38Last90.2931stSF/6047.9430th47.5123rd44.2430th46.9929thSCF/6052.9824th56.9118th46.8230th54.3922ndHDCF/6025.0416th27.678th21.3124th20.0626thxG/607.5920th8.2817th6.5431st6.7132ndSH%12.4225th17.589th22.631st20.223rd