Blackhawks' youngsters haven't yet figured out how to make power play click

Oddly enough, this season has marked the Blackhawks' best power-play performance in a full-length season since 2015-16.

The Hawks rank 11th in the NHL with a 23.8% power-play conversion rate — a dramatic difference from the last two seasons, when they ranked 28th both times with 16.6% and 16.4% conversion rates.

Since turning their roster over to youth, however, their power play has fallen off considerably. The Seth Jones trade hasn't affected their defensive corps as much as expected overall, largely because Sam Rinzel has taken over the No. 1 defenseman mantle incredibly quickly since turning pro, but the power play is one area where Jones has been missed.

The Hawks are 0-for-14 on the power play over their last seven games, and they're 6-for-38 — a 15.8% conversion rate — over their last 19 games dating back to March 3 (two days after the Jones trade).

During that larger 19-game span, the Hawks have averaged only 1.13 shot attempts per minute of power-play time (by far the lowest rate in the league) and 0.63 scoring chances per minute (the second-lowest rate in the league).

They simply haven't been able to cleanly enter the offensive zone very often, much less set up plays that lead to the ideal snowball effect of shots, rebounds, recovered pucks and more shots with the man advantage.

Chicagoans love to hate on the drop-pass strategy, yet it's the most common strategy league-wide for a reason. It just seems inefficient when it doesn't work, and it has rarely worked for the Hawks lately. Their communication has been lacking in those situations.

"It's more [about] staying on the same page," forward Frank Nazar said Thursday. "There's times where you can rush up ice. Being on the second unit mostly, it's like, 'We only have 20 seconds, so let's get up the ice.' But if we take an extra five seconds to set up and do our breakout right, that's more helpful."

Interim coach Anders Sorensen promoted Nazar onto the first unit Thursday against the Bruins, hoping his speed could help with zone entries. That did seem wise, since none of the four forwards who previously comprised that unit — Connor Bedard, Teuvo Teravainen, Tyler Bertuzzi and Ryan Donato (who was demoted) — are speedy.

But it didn't pay off immediately. The Hawks went 0-for-2 on power-play opportunities; Bedard ended the latter prematurely by taking a penalty. One entry went offside, and several others were broken up at the blue line. Errant passes were also problematic.

With just three games left — the home finale Saturday against the Jets, followed by visits to the Canadiens and Senators — it’s too late for the Hawks to substantially snap out of this slump.

Entering training camp next season, the power play will nonetheless be an area to monitor. A dangerous power play can really help a team ascend the standings. The Devils this season provide a good example: they've clinched a playoff spot, despite ranking 26th in five-on-five goals, in part because of their third-ranked power play.

The battle to quarterback the Hawks' top unit next season could be particularly interesting. Young defensemen Rinzel, Artyom Levshunov and Kevin Korchinski all have the potential to do so.

Korchinski's underwhelming defensive development up to this point suggests perhaps his ceiling might be power-play specialist than all-around top-pairing defenseman. But there wouldn't be much need for a specialist if Rinzel and/or Levshunov can do that in addition to everything else.

So far, though, none of them have found much success in that role. The Hawks have averaged 0.86 scoring chances per minute of power-play time with Korchinski quarterbacking, 0.79 with Rinzel quarterbacking and 0.74 with Levshunov quarterbacking — all below their 0.95 with Jones quarterbacking.