The Chicago Blackhawks’ second mini training camp is off and running, as the team was on the ice for another full practice session on Thursday. There are still nine days until the Blackhawks return to play from the Olympic break, leaving plenty of time for improvements and preparation for their final 25 games of the regular season.
One area in particular where the Blackhawks are looking to better themselves before the year ends is on the power play, which went through a horrendous stretch leading up to the break. Over the final 12 games, the man advantage converted on just one of its 33 opportunities, dropping down to 19th in the NHL in the process. Going back to the first half of the season, the Blackhawks’ power play was consistently ranked near the top 10 in the league and was one of the team’s biggest strengths.
Among many recent issues, the largest one was entering the offensive zone and maintaining possession. Far too often, the Blackhawks were getting held up at the blue line and quickly coughing up the puck, leading to an easy clear for the opposing penalty kill. The dump-and-chase method hasn’t worked very effectively, either.
There have also been problems with the slingshot-style entry, where the puck gets dropped to a trailing player who’s rushing up the ice with a full head of steam. Head coach Jeff Blashill mentioned before the break that he would consider moving away from that style for the home stretch.
“We kind of went through the first part of the year with basically one [power play] look,” Blashill said. “For a long time, it did pretty good. But what happens, if you’re struggling with that, then there’s frustration that sets in. I think when frustration sets in, it’s important to have a different look. Both for the ability to get in the zone, and to fight through that frustration.”
The Blackhawks dedicated a strong chunk of Thursday’s practice to working on power-play entries, and it turns out that the slingshot is still in effect. However, there’s a new wrinkle that’s been added, as the top unit was utilizing a double slingshot entry for the first time. Frank Nazar was the initial recipient of the drop pass from Sam Rinzel, and he then dropped the puck off again to Connor Bedard, the last player coming up the ice.
This new strategy gives Nazar two options: He can carry the puck into the offensive zone himself, or he can drop it off to Bedard before skating into trouble. It will be fascinating to see if the double slingshot works effectively against a stout penalty kill in practice over the next nine days.
When the second unit was practicing together, a more standard grouped rush was in effect, rather than the double slingshot. In the video above, Matt Grzelcyk sent a pass up to Andre Burakovsky, who galloped through center ice and into the offensive zone for a successful entry. Burakovsky must use his speed to enter the zone more effectively for the second unit to improve in the latter half of the season. He’s struggled as the group’s primary puck carrier for the last two months.
It was also curious that Grzelcyk was still quarterbacking the second unit out of the Olympic break, despite Artyom Levshunov and Kevin Korchinski both being on the roster. The 32-year-old is still looking for his first goal with the Blackhawks and has recorded only three power-play assists in 57 games. Admittedly, Grzelcyk hasn’t been used in that role too often, but he also hasn’t been very effective when given the chance.
Blackhawks powerplay units
Bertuzzi
Moore-Nazar-Bedard
Rinzel
Dach
Burakovsky-Greene-Foligno
Grzelcyk
— CHGO Blackhawks (@CHGO_Blackhawks) February 19, 2026
With Korchinski’s offensive nature and top power-play usage with the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL over the last two seasons, it seemed like a natural spot for him to slide into for the start of his current stint. He doesn’t appear to be getting that opportunity right away, but he surely will at some point. Especially if Grzelcyk, a pending unrestricted free agent this summer, gets traded ahead of the deadline.
For Levshunov, he’s skated as the team’s seventh defenseman during line rushes out of the break so far. Considering that he also isn’t receiving a look on either power-play unit, he could still be a healthy scratch when the Blackhawks return to play on Feb. 26.
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