32 in 32 Day 6: From Dynasty to Dumpster Fire - What Happened to the Chicago Blackhawks?

2021-2022 Season Recap

• Record - 28-41-12 (68 points), 7th in the Central Division

• Goals For: 219 (28th in the NHL), Goals Against: 291 (26th in the NHL)

• Leading Goal Scorer - Alex DeBrincat (41)

• Leading Point Scorer - Patrick Kane (92)

Where to even begin with this team. After winning 3 Stanley Cups in a span of 6 years, the Chicago Blackhawks currently find themselves in the darkest of tunnels with no light at the end of it. If you ask me, I say it's karma doing it's thing.

In May of 2021, after missing the playoffs for the 3rd time in 4 years, a lawsuit was filed against the team by an ex-player, who has since revealed himself as Blackhawk first round pick Kyle Beach. In the lawsuit, Beach claimed that he was sexually assaulted by the team's former video coach Brad Aldrich during the team's Stanley Cup run in 2010. The details of the story can be found here as well as Beach's interview on ESPN. The story is disturbing enough, but the interview is even tougher to watch. ESPN's Rick Westhead did a fabulous job conducting what I'm sure was the most difficult interview of his career at the network. I'd rather not dive too deeply into the specifics themselves, but I'd be remiss if that wasn't the first thing I mentioned in this piece. It's just so disappointing the way the organization mishandled and covered up the incident. They deserve to be exactly where they are as team going into 2023.

After going winless in their first 9 games, and winning just one of their first 13 games, the team decided to move on from Head Coach Jeremy Colliton. Although they did fairly well record wise under Interim HC Derek King, going 27-33-10, they decided to not hire him on as the full time head coach. Instead they hired former NHL defenseman Luke Richardson, who was most recently the assistant coach for Montreal Canadiens during their cup run. He now gets his first crack at a head coaching gig, and will have his work cut out for him to put it lightly.

Aside from the scandal that's loomed over the franchise for the past 16 months, the Blackhawks front office has done everything they could this offseason to put a losing team on the ice. The trades that former GM Stan Bowman made during his tenure were questionable enough, but we're barely 6 months into the Kyle Davidson era and my brain already can't fathom what his thought process is.

The Hawks were without a first round pick coming into the draft as they had dealt it away to Columbus the year prior in the Seth Jones deal. So I do understand the need to make a trade or two to get back into the first round and acquire a top prospect. What I don't understand is trading away two huge pieces of your future to do so. The Blackhawks traded star winger Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators for the 7th and 39th selections in 2022, and a third round pick in 2024. They also moved Kirby Dach to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for the 13th and 66th pick in this past draft. DeBrincat is a certified stud who already has reached the 40 goal plateau twice in his young career. He's only 24 and his contract isn't that bad of a cap hit for what he provides. To only get one first rounder for him and three total picks out of him is insane to me. At least get a prospect for him along with the picks. And then you have Dach. At just 21 years of age, he was their top pick just three years prior and has an enormous amount of potential. Why give up on him so quickly? And why not ask for more in return when teams would most definitely give up more to get him? If there's a chance that Patrick Kane and/or Jonathan Toews will be traded, why not work with them before the draft to waive their no-move clause (NMC)? Teams would pay more than handsomely for either one of them. In fact they probably would've gotten more for Kane than DeBrincat despite the age difference. I just hope that the players they did draft with those picks work out well for Kyle Davidson's sake.

The two first rounders Davidson selected do seem to have promise, but it will be awhile before we see them in a Hawks sweater. With the pick they received from Ottawa in the DeBrincat deal, the team went with left handed defenseman Kevin Korchinski from the Seattle Thunderbirds. One of the youngest players in this year's draft class, Korchinski brings a lot of offensive upside to a blue line that doesn't have much talent after Seth Jones. He was spectacular with the Thunderbirds as a 17 year old, tallying 65 points in 67 games in the 2022 season. He'll stay with Thunderbirds for the 2023 season as he's still not quite physically ready for the NHL.

They then use the 13th overall pick they received from Montreal on Frank Nazar, a center from the US Development Program. Though he lacks size, he has tons of speed and skill make up for it. Like Korchinksi, however, he also won't be up with the club this year as he's committed to playing at the University of Michigan, a place that is slowly but surely becoming college hockey's version of Alabama football.

As far as players that will actually be on team next year go, there isn't much to talk about outside of Kane, Toews, and Seth Jones. They really don't have any depth at any position outside of those three, and Kane and Toews may not even be with the team after the trade deadline if they do end up waiving their NMC. They brought forwards Andreas Anthanasiou and Max Domi in on one year deals, but neither of them move the needle.

I have a feeling that the dark times the franchise and fanbase are currently going through will only continue to grow darker as time passes. The only thing that can immediately turn things around is if they win the draft lottery and land Connor Bedard next summer. It seems like it's something the organization is already committing to, and I don't blame them for it.

Until that day comes, though, the Madhouse on Madison will be jamming out to their classic goal song way less than in years past.