Thanks to Connor Bedard, the Chicago Blackhawks rebuild will likely be quicker than most rebuilds.
Welcome to Oilersnation’s summer series called Off-Season Review, in which we’ll take a dive into what’s going on with the other 15 teams in the Western Conference. This will be the final article in the 15-article series, and we’ll look at the worst team in the Central Division, the Chicago Blackhawks.
In this article, we’ll look at the abysmal Chicago Blackhawks.

The Chicago Blackhawks 2023-24 Season in a Nutshell

The Chicago Blackhawks dynasty of the early ‘10s is long gone, and what’s left is one of the worst teams in the National Hockey League.
Last season, the team finished with a 23-53-6 record, second-worst in the NHL next to the San Jose Sharks. Unlike the draft prior, the Blackhawks didn’t win the draft lottery, as they ended up picking second overall.
At the trade deadline, the only move they made was moving Anthony Beauvillier to the Nashville Predators for a 2024 fifth-round pick. He was acquired by the team a few months prior, as the Vancouver Canucks moved him to Chicago for a different fifth-round pick in the 2024 draft.
One of the most notable transactions this past season for the Blackhawks was terminating Corey Perry’s contract. The reasons are still unknown, with the Edmonton Oilers eventually swooping in and signing the veteran winger.
It wasn’t a great season for the Blackhawks, but the rebuild is coming along nicely, thanks to one player – Connor Bedard.

Some Notable Statistics

Bedard, like Connor McDavid before him, has been tagged as the league’s next generational talent. Now, that title is handed out far too often, but Bedard looks as if he fits the mould. In his final season of junior with the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats, he scored 71 goals and 143 points.
The Blackhawks finished with the second-highest odds to land Bedard and ended up doing so. In his first season in the National Hockey League, he scored 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games, missing time with a broken jaw. Unlike McDavid and Sidney Crosby (the two last generational talents), Bedard won the Calder Memorial Trophy, something neither player will ever achieve.
With that being said, Bedard didn’t have a ton of help last season. Their next highest scorer was Phillipp Kurashev, who scored 18 goals and 54 points in 75 games. Veteran Nick Foligno scored 17 goals and 37 points, while Jason Dickinson scored a career-high 22 goals and 35 points in 82 games.
They only had two other players with double-digit goals, as Tyler Johnson scored 17 (and 31 points) while Ryan Donato scored 12 (and 30 points). Defenceman Seth Jones scored eight goals and 30 points.
Those seven players were the only players with 30 or more points. However, forward Lukas Reichel (five goals, 16 points) looks promising, while rookie defenceman Kevin Korchinski scored five goals and 15 points in 76 games.
Petr Mrázek started the majority of the Blackhawks games, posting a solid .908 save percentage and a 3.03 goals-against average in 56 games, finishing the season with an 18-31-4 record and a fat extension.  Arvid Söderblom started the rest of the Blackhawks’ games, posting a 5-22-2 record in 32 games played, along with an .880 save percentage and a 3.89 goals-against average.

Off-Season Transactions

The Blackhawks made a handful of trades heading into the 2024 draft. They moved the 20th-overall, 54th-overall, and 61st-overall picks to the New York Islanders for the 18th-overall pick and the 50th-overall pick, all in the 2024 draft.
A few days later, they acquired Ilya Mikheyev, Sam Lafferty, and a 2027 second-round pick from the Vancouver Canucks for a 2027 fourth-round pick in what was a cap dump for the Pacific Coast team. Lafferty, who spent two seasons with the Blackhawks in 2021-22 and 2022-23, signed with the Buffalo Sabres when free agency started on Jul. 1.
The Blackhawks also made two trades with the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2024 draft. On the first day, they acquired the 27th overall pick from the Hurricanes for the 34th overall pick and the 50th overall pick. The following day, they acquired a third-round pick in the 2024 draft for a 2025 third-round pick.
In the first round, the Blackhawks selected defenceman Artyom Levshunov with the second overall pick, Sacha Boisvert with the 18th overall pick, and Marek Vanacker with the 27th overall pick.
It’s clear what the Blackhawks’ plan is during free agency. The team wants to surround Bedard (especially in his early seasons) with grizzled vets who’ve “been there, done that” with some toughness.
Patrick Maroon signed a one-year, $1.3 million deal, Tyler Bertuzzi signed a four-year, $22 million deal ($5.5 million AAV), Alec Martinez signed a one-year, $4 million deal, and TJ Brodie signed a two-year, $3.75 million deal. Maroon and Martinez both have three cups in their career, while Maroon and Bertuzzi regularly drop the gloves.
Those weren’t the only new additions to the Blackhawks, as they signed Craig Smith to a one-year, $1 million deal, backup netminder Laurent Brossoit to a two-year, $6.6 million deal ($3.3 million AAV) and Teuvo Teravainen to a three-year, $16.2 million deal ($5.4 million AAV).
The Blackhawks season ended long before mid-April, though, and that’s evident in the moves they made towards the end of the season or at the beginning of the playoffs. Landon Slaggert, Nick Lardis, and Frank Nazar all signed entry-level deals in March and April. Moreover, the Blackhawks extended defenceman Alex Vlasic to a six-year, $27.6 million deal ($4.6 million AAV), as well as Lukas Reichel to a two-year deal worth $2.4 million ($1.2 million AAV).
They also re-signed depth players Brett Seney, Zach Sanford, Cole Guttman, Joey Anderson, Louis Crevier and Isaak Phillips to deals under $1 million a season. Rounding out their move, they signed Martin Misiak, Artyom Levshunov, and Marek Vanacker to their entry-level contracts.
There were quite a few departures, though. Most notably, Nikita Zaitsev returned to the Kontinental Hockey League, while Sam Lafferty signed with the Buffalo Sabres. Defenceman Taylor Raddysh signed with the Washington Capitals as well.
Other departures include Colin Blackwell (Dallas), MacKenzie Entwistle (Florida), Mike Hardman (New Jersey), Reese Johnson (Minnesota), Jaycob Megna (Florida), Luke Philip (Washington), Filip Roos (Ottawa), Vili Saarijärvi (SCL Tigers of the Swiss league), Jaxson Stauber (Utah), and Michal Teplý (signed with HC Oceláři Třinec in Czechia). Jarred Tinordi, Rem Pitlick, and Tyler Johnson all remain as unrestricted free agents.
If you enjoy my content, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D. Thanks for reading the 15-article series. It was a ton of fun to work on!

Previously in this series…