It’s no secret that the Chicago Blackhawks are in tough this season. The expectations for the 2023-24 campaign were already low, considering the club was short on talent, and they just drafted first overall, indicating they weren’t that good last season, either.
But with a volume of injuries I can’t remember seeing for any professional sports team, let alone a hockey club, the Blackhawks are in deep trouble. Defenseman Seth Jones just returned on Jan. 13 against the Dallas Stars after missing a month; forward Nick Foligno is still out with a broken finger; forward Anthony Beauvillier is on injured reserve with a wrist injury; winger Andreas Athanasiou has been out since Nov. 9 with a lower-body injury; forward Tyler Johnson was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury, and let’s not forget forward and former Hart Trophy-winner Taylor Hall, who underwent season-ending knee surgery in November.
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And now, worst of all, 2023 No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard, who by all accounts was having one of the best rookie seasons of the 21st century, who was named the youngest All-Star in NHL history, broke his jaw in a Jan. 5 game against the New Jersey Devils and will miss six-to-eight weeks.
So what now? With half a season to go and a litany of injuries, the Blackhawks need certain players to step up, especially with the long-term absence of Bedard. Here are three players I feel need to show both fans and management that they can take advantage of this opportunity.
Lukas Reichel
After an impressive quarter of a season in 2022-23, scoring seven goals and eight assists for 15 points in 23 games, as well as a near point-per-game pace in the AHL with 51 points in 55 games, expectations in the Blackhawks’ organization for Lukas Reichel were simple: become a full-time NHLer.
This proved difficult as Reichel, taken 17th overall by the Blackhawks in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, was held off the scoresheet for the first nine games of the 2023-24 campaign and didn’t score his first goal until a Nov. 16 contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning, his 14th game of the season.
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Beyond the points, just playing a shift in the NHL was a challenge for Reichel, unable to keep up with the speed at both ends of the rink and looking lost in the defensive zone. Head coach Luke Richardson made the 21-year-old a healthy scratch in early December, hoping Reichel would “come back with a little fire.” But since being taken out of the lineup, Reichel has continued to struggle, scoring one goal and two assists for three points in 20 games and averaging only 13:00 of ice time.
With a team-worst minus-24 through the first 42 games — despite having some of the lowest ice time on the team — management needs Reichel to step up and figure out his game in the second half of the season.
Taylor Raddysh
Similar to Reichel, forward Taylor Raddysh went into 2023-24 with high expectations. Coming off his first 20-goal season in 2022-23, the 2016 second-round pick was starting to carve out a second- or third-line role for himself in the NHL, and with the Blackhawks in a rebuilding year, there was plenty of opportunity.
But unfortunately, similar to Reichel, it’s been a struggle. Having played on all four lines throughout the season, Raddysh hasn’t been able to consistently generate any offense, and since Oct. 30, he has only scored three times — that’s one goal every 10 games. All this was Richardson, with the team’s absurd number of injuries, who has given the young forward plenty of opportunities on the power play and with ice time.
Raddysh will become a restricted free agent at the end of the season. If he wants a raise from the $775,000 that he’s earning this season, then the 25-year-old will have to pick up his game and prove to the Blackhawks and the rest of the league that he belongs in this league.
Ryan Donato
This isn’t an indictment on Ryan Donato but an encouragement for the 27-year-old to take advantage of the opportunities presented to him. When Donato signed a two-year, $4 million contract with the rebuilding Blackhawks in the offseason, many felt the team solidified another spot in their bottom-six forward group.
For the most part, that’s been the case, with Donato providing a bit of snarl and defensively responsible hockey. However, beyond Philipp Kurashev, there’s a case to be made that Donato has been Bedard’s best linemate through the 2023-24 campaign. His work ethic and underrated speed, combined with not being afraid to go to the dirty areas of the ice, complement top-line skill quite nicely.
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But after scoring six goals and seven assists for 13 points in his first 30 games, Donato has been kept off the scoresheet in the last 11 games, and even with plenty of injuries, Richardson put the 2014 second-round pick on the fourth line. Obviously frustrated, Donato decided to contribute in some way, dropping the gloves with Stars’ forward Sam Steel on Jan. 13.
While a fight doesn’t add to his point totals, it does put him on the scoresheet, and it indicates to the coaching staff, and perhaps more importantly, his teammates, that he wants to be a contributor in this group. Fans can only hope it lights a tinder box of production in the second half of the season.
Final Thoughts
I’ve said this again and again: this is a rebuilding season, expectations are low, and yes, this team may be worse than last season’s group that went 26-49-7 and secured the No. 1 overall pick. We shouldn’t be too worried if the rest of this campaign is as bad as the first half.
But in circumstances like this, players have to find ways to motivate themselves. Maybe it’s a new contract, maybe they want to remain with the club, or they want to showcase to other teams around the league that they’re worthy of a job. Or maybe they just want to prove to themselves that they deserve to stay in the league.
Whatever the case, the second half of the Blackhawks’ 2023-24 season has to be better than the first half, and in the absence of their franchise player in Bedard, these three players, as well as the rest of the team, need to step up. Because if you thought it couldn’t get any worse — trust me, it can.