The bottom of the NHL standings looks a bit different than it did a month ago, and head coach Luke Richardson’s mindset may be altered as well. In the middle of March, with the Blackhawks sitting at 30th in overall points, he was asked about the possibility of tanking, and quickly shut the idea down.

Leading The Race

With six games left, however, his mindset may have changed a bit. On Sunday night, the Blue Jackets beat Ottowa in overtime, officially catapulting Chicago into the “lead” in the race to the bottom of the standings. As of Monday, the Blackhawks have tallied 54 points over the course of the season, with the Ducks and Columbus hot on their heels with 56 each. The only other team in the running for last place is the Sharks with 59 points. Each franchise has five or six games left in its season, so time is running out.

The Blackhawks and other teams have been in a blatant race for last place all season long in order to get the highest odds of securing Connor Bedard. That responsibility falls mostly on the front office, as the coaches and players are still expected to put forth their best effort on a nightly basis.

However, even Richardson knows at this point where the Blackhawks stand with time running out on the season. He claimed when he accepted the position that he would “make Kyle Davidson’s job as difficult as possible”, referring to the idea of tanking and rebuilding the roster from the ground up. Since then, he’s helmed a roster that gives their all on every play and plays fast and hard. That hasn’t turned into points, though, and Chicago now controls their own destiny for lottery positioning.

Schedule Comparisons

The Blackhawks don’t seem to have many winnable games left on the schedule. They play teams like the Flames and Penguins, both must-win games for each of those teams. The Canucks are probably the most winnable matchup, but they’re still a solid team. The Kraken and Wild are both near the top of the standings and need wins to hold their position. Chicago finishes at home against the Flyers, who are close to the bottom, but by then, the Hawks may want to just finish the season and get out as quickly as possible.

It seems that with each loss for the Blackhawks, fans get more and more excited. They’ve tanked so well that all they need to do now is lose their last few games and they’ll have the best odds at landing Bedard. Many fans may be wondering, “Why so much emphasis on finishing last if the odds of getting the first pick are only 25.5%?”.

The Real Motive

Not only would the Blackhawks’ odds be almost twice as much as the next highest, but perhaps the most important part is that it guarantees them a top-three pick. Sure, there’s only one Connor Bedard, and he’ll change whichever franchise he goes to. However, it would benefit Chicago to cover all their bases, in case the ping pong balls don’t bounce their way. If they don’t get Bedard, they would still be in the running for Adam Fantilli and Leo Carlsson, two elite prospects that have the potential to turn the franchise around.

Blackhawks fans everywhere have undoubtedly been checking box scores of the other teams near the bottom of the standings in the last few weeks. Kyle Davidson’s efforts to tear the team down and finish at the bottom seem to have worked so far, with the Hawks taking sole possession of last place with six games to go. Chicago is positioning itself for perhaps the second-best prize behind the Stanley Cup: Connor Bedard.