The theme of many of the Chicago Blackhawks’ exit interviews at the end of the season last week was that this was the last campaign in which they can miss the playoffs, meaning the goal for the 2026-27 season has already been set. Most fans won’t call this season a failure, with the Blackhawks picking up 11 points on last year’s total and several young skaters showing promise. But while I, along with many others, am optimistic about the future, it’s fair to say Chicago didn’t completely hit the mark. They still finished 29-39-14, second-worst in the NHL. So what exactly went wrong this year?
Jeff Blashill was far from perfect
I wrote last week in my review of what went right for the Blackhawks this season that head coach Jeff Blashill was an improvement in his first year at the helm, setting his team up for success. But he was far from perfect. Andre Burakovsky was kept in a line with Connor Bedard for almost the entire season, despite putting up a -32 mark and playing poorly enough to likely be bought out this summer. He scratched players like Sacha Boisvert and even Ryan Greene toward the end of the year while keeping Burakovsky on the ice, which doesn’t exactly do much for the Blackhawks in the long run. He also seemed to keep certain players, namely Nick Lardis, sheltered in the bottom six for far too long rather than letting their offensive impact make a mark. I firmly believe Blashill is the right man for the job moving forward, but he’ll have to make a few big adjustments if Chicago’s goal is to win more games next year.
Poor power play
While the Blackhawks’ penalty-kill unit came out of nowhere to rank second in the entire league this year (83.6%), the lack of help from the power play (16.9%) was one of the biggest reasons the team was one of the worst scoring units in the NHL. They struggled all year with zone entry and couldn’t win a faceoff in the offensive zone. Whether that’s due to the poor quarterbacking of Artyom Levshunov, the lack of help for Bedard, or another reason, Blashill and his staff will have to instill a sense of urgency in the unit before the start of next season, or they’ll be stuck near the bottom of the league in offense again.
Arvid Soderblom disappoints
The career of goaltender Arvid Soderblom has been an interesting journey. In 2023-24, seeing him in the lineup meant that Chicago fans likely wouldn’t be happy with that night’s result. He allowed nearly four goals per game and won just five of his 29 starts. But in 2024-25, Soderblom was arguably the most improved player in the league, saving the Blackhawks more games than he cost them. He not only played his way back into Chicago’s future plans, but also into a payday, signing a two-year deal with a $2.75 million cap hit. But this year, we saw more of the old Soderblom come out, with a GAA back up to 3.80 and a .880 save percentage. Soderblom is usually able to slip under the radar due to the Vezina-caliber play of Spencer Knight, but with the Blackhawks looking to be competitive in the near future, they’ll need more from their backup netminder. Furthermore, with Drew Commesso posting a save percentage of .901 in Rockford and his first NHL shutout this season, Soderblom will need to show improvement just to keep his job after next year.
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