Analyzing the Blackhawks' season so far: Nine trends stand out

The Blackhawks have already passed the two-thirds mark of their 2025-26 season, and it has been a much more interesting and eventful season than the past few.

At 22-26-9, they're on pace to finish with 76 points, which would represent a sizable improvement upon their 61 and 52 points each of the last two seasons. That's in spite of losing nine of their last 12 entering the now-ongoing Olympic break.

While players relax on beaches across the continent and await the season's resumption Feb. 26, here's an examination of the Hawks' most encouraging and discouraging trends so far.

Encouraging: Bedard’s breakout

Connor Bedard's injury and somewhat slow post-injury return to top form has distracted fans from the fact Bedard has still taken a huge step forward this season.

With 53 points in 44 games, he's averaging 1.2 points per game, up from 0.9 and 0.82 in his first two seasons. If not for his injury, he would be on pace to reach nearly 100 points. His defensive work ethic has also increased substantially.

There's no doubt Bedard has become the superstar everyone expected him to become when the Hawks drafted him — even if San Jose's Macklin Celebrini's even faster road to superstardom has also distracted fans from the impressiveness of that fact.

The Hawks don't have to worry about finding their next franchise cornerstone — because they have that guy already. That's something very few other NHL franchises can claim.

The price tag of Bedard's new contract this summer will be interesting, but the Hawks can easily afford any number. Locking him up long-term is a matter of when, not if.

Discouraging: No star ‘D’ yet

The Hawks hope either Artyom Levshunov or Sam Rinzel will eventually emerge as a No. 1 defenseman. Neither has done so yet, though, even though they still have plenty of time.

Levshunov enjoyed the best stretch of his career around New Year's, but then his game fell off a cliff, leading to his removal from the lineup for a fundamental reset. Rinzel hasn't replicated his excellence from last spring, although he has looked better (in a small sample) since his recent call-up.

In the AHL, too, Kevin Korchinski hasn't demonstrated he's made a substantial leap forward in terms of on-ice ability, even though his mindset has matured. That means none of the Hawks' top three defensive prospects are exceeding expectations this season.

Encouraging: Crevier, Kaiser’s growth

On the other hand, Louis Crevier and Wyatt Kaiser have evolved from depth defensemen of debatable relevance within the rebuild into trustworthy top-four defensemen who deserve to stick around long-term.

Kaiser's quick brain and quick feet have earned comparisons to a young Duncan Keith and provided the glue holding the Hawks' defense together. He extinguishes fires defensively and makes things happen in transition.

Crevier, meanwhile, continues to smash through assumptions about his ceiling. His size and reach make him reliable defensively, and his strength gives him the Hawks' hardest shot, but he has rounded out his game with improved skating and passing this season.

Discouraging: Poor analytics

The Hawks had the worst cumulative five-on-five scoring-chance ratio in the NHL over the last three seasons combined, and they have the worst scoring-chance ratio yet again this season.

That ratio has improved, from 41.9% previously to 44.6% this season. But it's still dead last, and that's certainly discouraging. The Hawks also rank last in expected-goals ratio (44.3%) and second-to-last in shot ratio (45.3%).

Coach Jeff Blashill has brought up some interesting shortcomings of public analytics models, clarifying that the Hawks' internal analytics model paints a slightly rosier picture of their performance — although nobody disputes the fact they have a ways to go.

Encouraging: Blashill’s coaching

Blashill has brought time-tested authority to his role that his predecessors lacked. No offense to Jeremy Colliton or Luke Richardson, but Blashill exudes far more confidence and legitimacy.

Players have praised the efficiency and purposefulness of Blashill's practices and video sessions, mentioning how everything they spend time on eventually ties together in easy-to-follow and productive ways.

He has the Hawks running relatively complex systems designed for a real contender, not for a bottom-feeder just trying to muck up games enough to earn some points. The penalty-killing system has especially paid dividends; the Hawks rank in No. 1 in that category.

Fans often over-analyze lineup construction and player deployment, but it feels like Blashill and his assistants — especially defensive assistant Anders Sorensen — have done a generally good job with that, too.

Discouraging: Nazar’s slump

In October, Frank Nazar — fresh off signing a seven-year contract extension — appeared to be making the leap everyone expected, racing out of the gates with swagger and scoring (11 points in his first 10 games).

Since then, however, he has tallied only 13 points in 31 games — and missed another 16 games with a broken jaw. That trend, combined with veteran forward Andre Burakovsky's own substantial dropoff after a promising autumn, has taken some punch out of the Hawks' top six.

Nazar will resume centering his own line after the Olympics, and the Hawks would love to see him find a rhythm again before the season ends.

Encouraging: Knight’s endurance

One Hawk who has largely sustained his early-season success is Spencer Knight, their new franchise goalie. He did fall back to Earth after spending October on Mars, but his stats remain solid. His .908 save percentage ranks 15th among 65 goalies league-wide, and his plus-12.8 GSAA ranks eighth.

His work last summer to prepare for a full-time starter's workload for the first time has paid off, too. He has proven he has stamina and staying power.

Discouraging: Top of the Central

The Avalanche, Wild and Stars — owning three of the NHL's five best records — have a stranglehold on the Central Division that doesn't seem likely to loosen anytime soon, even if the Hawks improve enough to challenge them for it a few years down the road.

The Avalanche set the standard for star forward/star defenseman combo that the Hawks hope to eventually match. If the Wild manage to extend Quinn Hughes, they will match it. And the Stars' skill for prospect development also sets a standard for the Hawks to try to replicate.

Encouraging: Western mediocrity

The good news is the rest of the Western Conference isn't intimidating whatsoever. The playoff cutoff line is on pace to be just 92 points this season, compared to 99 in the East. If that pattern repeats itself next season, the Hawks' road to contending for a wild-card spot wouldn't be daunting.

Regardless, it doesn't seem like it will take long for the Hawks, Sharks and Ducks — the three up-and-coming teams loaded with young talent — to surpass many of their relatively aimless peers.