The NHL preseason is finally over, and the 2023-24 regular season is about to begin. The Chicago Blackhawks are fresh off a disappointing 2022-23 season that saw them finish near the bottom of the league standings, good enough — or bad enough, depending on how you look at it — to secure the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, selecting generational phenom Connor Bedard.
Luke Richardson is entering his second season as head coach of the Blackhawks. While most aren’t expecting his youthful lineup to compete for a Stanley Cup, the 2023-24 season will pave the road to where this team ends up in the future. Let’s examine how Richardson can help shape this Blackhawks roster.
The Blackhawks’ Goal Should Be to Make the Playoffs
Yeah, that’s right, the Blackhawks’ goal should be to make the playoffs. You’ll read this blurb and think, “well that’s ridiculous, because they’re not making the playoffs.” And that’s fine, no one would blame you for thinking that. As mentioned earlier, last season’s squad was among the worst in the league, finishing 26–49–7, enough for 59 points.
The Winnipeg Jets, for example, secured the second Wild Card spot in 2022-23 with a 46-33-3 record and 95 points. Are the Blackhawks going to have a 36-point improvement this season? Nearly all pundits would say no, and most fans, oddsmakers, and plenty of ink spilled on paper predict Chicago finishing near the bottom of the standings again.
But games aren’t played on paper, they’re played on ice, and it’s not how, but how many, and if ifs and buts were candies and nuts, and any other cliche you can think of. A grand total of zero NHL head coaches will tell you they don’t expect their team to miss the playoffs, and I can promise you Richardson and his coaching staff don’t care one iota what anyone thinks.
Of course, they’re in a crowded Central Division with virtual playoff locks like the Colorado Avalanche, the Dallas Stars, and the Minnesota Wild. A quick peek at the Pacific Division highlights other likely playoff teams like the Edmonton Oilers, the Seattle Kraken and the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Vegas Golden Knights.
That’s six out of eight playoff spots in the Western Conference, leaving the two wild card spots up for grabs. They’ll have to get past the Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets from within their own division; don’t forget a recharged Calgary Flames squad, as well as a Los Angeles Kings lineup that’s hoping to make one more post-season dent with their core group.
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But this upcoming season reminds me a lot of the 2016-17 Toronto Maple Leafs, who had a rookie Auston Matthews in their lineup. He finished the season with 40 goals and 69 points, a nice start to his NHL career, but more importantly, the team finished with a 40-27-15 record, enough for 95 points and the second wild-card spot.
Sure, they would lose to the Washington Capitals 4-2 in the opening round, and most of the roster since then has turned over, including the departure of head coach Mike Babcock and executives Lou Lamoriello and Kyle Dubas. But ask Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Morgan Rielly how much those six games in April meant to their development.
Playing in the world’s greatest league can do wonders for a young player, but playing in the world’s toughest tournament, the Stanley Cup playoffs can multiply that development by tenfold.
How Can Luke Richardson Prepare Connor Bedard
It’s clear for any hockey fan that the rookie season of Bedard will be one of the primary storylines during the 2023-24 NHL season. How will he adapt to the pro game? How many goals and points will he be able to produce? Is he a shoo-in to win the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year?
After Bedard himself, the person who will have the most effect on the No. 1 pick is Richardson. Watching the four preseason games Bedard played in, it’s clear that the Blackhawks’ coach will give the 18-year-old as much rope as he’s willing to take. Even strength, power play, and overtime, Bedard was on the first line in each of these situations, and that’s not expected to change.
“He sees (the game) differently than us, so we’re going to have to have trust in a guy with that kind of talent and vision,” Richardson told reporters on Sunday, Oct. 8 regarding Bedard. “There are … parts of his game he’s still going to have some transition time, and we’re helping him.”
Related: Comparing Connor Bedard to Sidney Crosby & Connor McDavid
Everyone and their uncle knows what Bedard can do with the puck. You can watch any number of YouTube compilations of his time with the Regina Pats and be dazzled by the 134 spectacular goals he scored in a little over two years’ worth of junior hockey. If you saw his preseason debut against the Blues on Sept. 28, you would have seen the soft-as-butter saucer pass to Andreas Athanasiou on the overtime winner.
It’s what he does when he doesn’t have the puck that will be key to his development. Playing center on the first line in the NHL is one of the hardest things to do in professional sports: every shift you’re going head-to-head with a team’s best players, trying to find cracks against their top pairings on offense and trying to slow down their own skill players in your own end. Bedard has never faced competition like he’s about to, starting with the season opener vs. Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 10.
“He sees (the game) differently than us, so we’re going to have to have trust in a guy with that kind of talent and vision. There are … parts of his game he’s still going to have some transition time, and we’re helping him.”
Luke Richardson speaking with reporters about Connor Bedard on Sunday, Oct. 8, CBSSports.com
It’s not just on the ice that matters. Bedard now has to deal with the pain and rigors of a full NHL season: the travel, the bruises, how to live away from the rink, and how to act when on the road. Essentially, how to live every day like a pro. Of course, veteran teammates like Taylor Hall, Corey Perry, and Nick Foligno will be there to help, showing him what it takes to thrive and survive in this league.
But it’s Richardson and the Blackhawks’ coaching staff that will have to push the No. 1 pick to see just how good he can be. Anyone on the top line can get themselves on the scoresheet: try keeping the best players in the world off of it.
Luke Richardson Has to Prove That He’s “The Guy”
If you’ve watched sports long enough, you know that coaches are hired to be fired. Nearly every coach is fired, or their contract isn’t renewed, or they “mutually agree with the club to part ways.” You will also notice that, when it comes to rebuilding teams, they often hire a new coach once they really start making runs in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
As mentioned earlier, Babcock was fired by the Maple Leafs once they became a Cup contender; Denis Savard helped develop Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in Chicago, but was replaced by Joel Quenneville before winning three Stanley Cups; Michel Therrien was fired in Pittsburgh, then Dan Bylsma led Crosby and the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup.
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It’s a tale as old as sports, itself. These coaches were “the guy before the guy,” meaning they paved the way for someone else to come in and push the team over the edge and win. Richardson saw firsthand a situation like that as an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens in 2020-21, when Dominique Ducharme took over for Claude Julien and led the Habs to a Stanley Cup Final appearance against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Richardson won’t be fired if the Blackhawks fail to qualify for the post-season in 2023-24, but if he expects to coach in Chicago when the team’s youth enter their prime, this season will be a litmus test. He needs to show that he’s capable of getting the most out of a lineup that most around the league are overlooking. He needs to put Bedard on the path to superstardom. He needs to prove he’s “the guy,” and not just another footnote in the franchise’s history.
Time will tell if that’s the case. Don’t worry, the Blackhawks have plenty of it to go around.
