NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Blackhawks season is over. Finished. We can walk away, wash our hands, take a long nap and come back to it in a few days. But there’s one thing I always like to do once the season comes to a close: hold myself accountable.
Before the 2023-24 season began, I shared some bold predictions for the coming season. Now that it’s officially in the books, let’s hold me accountable for my hopes.
I predicted the Blackhawks would get 25 goals from Taylor Hall this year and Ryan Donato, Nick Foligno and Corey Perry would all score at least 15.
Obviously two of those guys didn’t pass the test and this prediction failed miserably. Hall was limited to just 10 games played and scored twice. That alone cost me a shot at this prediction. But then the debacle with Perry getting punted just after Thanksgiving made it worse. He scored four times in 16 games before the Hawks terminated his contract.
However, Foligno has 17 goals (check mark) and Donato has 11 (kinda-sorta close).
Reality:
Where’s the sad trombone? Part of this prediction was based on Mrazek being in the final year of his contract and the possibility that he would be traded out of town before/at the deadline. That did not happen, and neither did Söderblom ascending on the depth chart. Mrazek enjoyed one of the better seasons of his career and has a two-year extension to show for the effort. And the young netminder found himself riding the struggle bus more frequently than fans wanted.
More times than not, Söderblom’s teammates have said he deserves a better result. He had some decent games down the stretch and he’s got one more year on this contract, so odds are that he’ll likely be back with Mrazek in Chicago next season — but that isn’t a guarantee. The question is whether or not the Blackhawks re-sign RFA Jaxson Stauber to compete with him or a veteran with more NHL experience.
Reality:
So… I was right about him sticking in the NHL for the entire season. The part about playing the entire season as the youngest defenseman in the entire NHL and sneaking into the Calder conversation might have been a little excited for the new season. He’s shown some good signs of development this year and has certainly benefitted from the emergence of Alex Vlasic as a legit top-pair defenseman for the Blackhawks. Hopefully he moves into more power play time next year after getting a summer to rest and then get physically stronger.
I do want to point out again here that Korchinski played this entire season as the youngest defenseman in the entire NHL, and did so with the tragic passing of his father in the middle of the season. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that he had those emotions to deal with while also trying to navigate the NHL as a teenager.
Reality:
Here’s the thing: Bedard finished the season a 0.90 point/game player, which is (checks match) a 74-point pace over a full season. He finished the season with 22 goals and 39 assists in 68 games. If we project those out to, let’s conservatively say 75 games, he would have finished with around 25 goals and 44 assists. I wasn’t crazy with my predictions, especially when you consider I was hoping for more than 10 games from Hall on his wing.
Regarding the three rookie records I thought he would break:
