While many were excited to see the Blackhawks finally back from a two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, Chicago’s return has been anything but triumphant. The Blackhawks have lost their two games since the break by a combined score of 10-3, a resounding reminder that the team is nowhere near contention and will be spending the rest of the season battling for a better spot in this summer’s draft.
While back-to-back losses is far from unusual for the Blackhawks based on the past few years, the biggest problem is how they’ve looked during that time. Chicago should be using the final few months of the season to allow its best skaters to build chemistry, piecing together what lines could look like on Opening Night this fall. Instead, the Blackhawks seem to be dead in the water, putting lines on the ice that certainly won’t be the same in future years. Here are the forward groupings they put on the ice for both games:
Landon Slaggert – Connor Bedard – Ryan Donato
Philipp Kurashev – Frank Nazar – Tyler Bertuzzi
Teuvo Teravainen – Nick Foligno – Ilya Mikheyev
Pat Maroon – Lukas Reichel – Craig Smith
There are plenty of issues with this lineup, like the fact that Reichel is still on a fourth line where he doesn’t belong (he’s only there because the line had a few good games several months ago). But that top line is even more strange. Slaggert never profiled as a top-liner – he’s a bottom-six grinder, a valuable one, but not a great scorer by any means. On the other side, Donato has enjoyed an excellent season and has been one of the better skaters on the team, but it’s hard to argue that he belongs anywhere near the top line.
The frustrating part – Chicago actually has a great top line to work with. While the Blackhawks continue to put random skaters on Bedard’s wings, they’re squandering a perfect top line that has been proven to work.
We haven’t seen a line of Bertuzzi–Bedard–Nazar in a while, but it’s unclear why. While the three have only played 80 minutes together as a group, they’ve been lethal when on the ice at the same time. Based on expected goals per game and similar advanced metrics, they’ve been among the best lines in the league, posting similar averages to Pittsburgh’s Malkin–Crosby–Rakell line and the Stars’ Benn–Johnston–Duchene group.
Everyone could see that Bertuzzi and Bedard worked well together when they were paired up earlier in the season. Over a three-game stretch, Bertuzzi logged three goals and five points in January while on Bedard’s wing. With his ability to get to the back door and redirect pucks combined with Bedard’s world-class ability to set up his teammates, the two were an obvious fit. I’ve even advocated for Bertuzzi to remain on the top line next year because of how well they work together. With Nazar quickly developing into a talented offensive skater, he was good on that line too; plus, there’s a decent chance Bedard and Nazar are on the same line for years to come. Why not start building that chemistry now? It’s not even about the argument that “the Blackhawks have nothing to lose.” They have a line that’s been proven to work, and one that will benefit them in the long term – they’re just not using it.
