The Chicago Blackhawks are entering the third season of their rebuild. The first two seasons were all about tearing down and starting over. This 2024-25 season is the beginning of building back up again. The organization was busy this offseason, acquiring players to provide more support to their young core (especially Connor Bedard). But rebuilds take time, patience and a lot of strategic decisions. How can you best develop your prospects? How do you balance your salary cap; not just for one season, but for the future as well? And how do you put all the puzzle pieces in place so everything comes together at the same time?
Well, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. These are decisions for the big brass to determine, not the fans and the media. But we sure do like to put our two cents in, don’t we?! One question that seems to be coming up again and again in Blackhawks’ circles is this; will all the new veterans be holding back the prospects?
Let’s dissect that question to see if we can come to some conclusions.
Too Many Veterans for the Blackhawks?
We all know by now that the Blackhawks added plenty of veteran presence to their 2024-25 roster during the offseason. Here’s a breakdown of all the players who are 30 years or older, or who will turn 30 during the season, and how much longer each contract runs:
| Player: | Age: | Contract Runs: |
| Alec Martinez | 37 | One more season |
| Nick Foligno | 36 | Two more seasons |
| Patrick Maroon | 36 | One more season |
| Craig Smith | 34 | One more season |
| TJ Brodie | 34 | Two more seasons |
| Taylor Hall | 32 | One more season |
| Petr Mrazek | 32 | Two more seasons |
| Connor Murphy | 31 | Two more seasons |
| Laurent Brossoit | 31 | Two more seasons |
| Andreas Athanasiou | 30 | One more season |
| Teuvo Teravainen | 30 in Sept. | Three more seasons |
| Seth Jones | 30 in Oct. | Six more seasons |
| Ilya Mikheyev | 30 in Oct. | Two more seasons |
| Tyler Bertuzzi | 30 in Feb. | Four more seasons |
That’s 14 players who will be 30 years or older during the season. Wow, that’s kind of a lot of “old” guys taking up roster spots. With a 23-man roster, that only leaves nine spots for younger players and prospects.
If we look at the rest of the roster, the players who will likely take the remaining nine spots are Bedard, Philipp Kurashev, Lukas Reichel, Jason Dickinson (just turned 29, so doesn’t count for above), Ryan Donato, Joey Anderson, Alex Vlasic, Kevin Korchinski and Wyatt Kaiser.
But what about those players who arguably could be ready for the NHL, like Frank Nazar, Landon Slaggert, Isaak Phillips and Louis Crevier? Then there’s also some longshots, such as forward Colton Dach and defensemen Ethan Del Mastro, Nolan Allan and, of course, 2024 second overall draft pick Artyom Levshunov.
For these youngsters, their near future certainly looks bound for the AHL Rockford IceHogs, considering the plethora of veterans that now make up the Blackhawks. Plus, let’s not forget head coach Luke Richardson’s affinity for the veterans. Remember last season when he kept on playing Jarred Tinordi instead of someone like Kaiser of Phillips? At the time, Richardson was using Tinordi as a bit of a watchdog out there. But he also leaned into playing 34-year-old Tyler Johnson for 67 games over younger players such as Reese Johnson and MacKenzie Entwistle.
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Let’s face it; coaches like consistency, and that’s what you usually get with more experienced players. I could see wanting to stick with consistency versus a relatively unknown youngster, who’s inevitably going to make a lot of mistakes.
Also, keep in mind the veteran players are there to complement the young skill players that are already in the NHL, such as Bedard, Kurashev and Reichel. It’s only going to elevate their play moving forward, which is needed. These kids should feel like they’re valued and given the right tools to succeed. The veterans can do that. (from ‘Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson: Offseason moves will create better development path in NHL, AHL’, The AthleticCHI – 7/5/2024).
But did they really need so many of them?!
Hope for the Up-And-Coming Blackhawks
All right. Let’s look at the other side of the coin, and consider why this could be a good thing for the Blackhawks, and for the youngsters. There are a number of reasons why they shouldn’t be discouraged.
Most Veterans Are Placeholders
If you reference the list of players above, all of them except four are only signed to one or two-year deals. Sure, there’s Bertuzzi at fours years, and of course we all know former general manager Stan Bowman signed Jones for the next 100 years (sorry, six more seasons) as well. Teravainen and Mikheyev are both on the books for three more seasons. I guess the good news is all four of these players are the youngest of the “old” guys.
Everyone else, on the other hand, is only signed for one or two more seasons. Meaning there’s not a whole lot of money or term committed to these players. The Blackhawks have given themselves a lot of flexibility here. When these player contracts run out, the younger players should be primed to step right in.
Development in Rockford Should Pay Off
Besides, is it such a bad thing to spend a couple of seasons in Rockford?! It worked wonderfully for defenseman Vlasic, who had a breakout 2023-24 campaign after spending a full season as a top dog with the IceHogs. Kaiser also started with the Blackhawks last season. But he struggled out of the gate, and then spent a couple of months with the IceHogs. He came back in late March looking like a completely different player. So much so that’s he’s a favorite to make the team for good this season.
Take Reichel. Well, there’s a few theories why Reichel struggled so much last season; one of them being he was forced to play on a checking line, and not put in a position to play to his strengths. But regardless, time in Rockford was good for him too, as he finished the season on a high note with the Blackhawks.
Injuries Will Factor In
What happens when you have a bunch of 30-somethings on your team? Yeah, it’s evitable that injuries will happen. Even more so when you’re a veteran whose body has run the gauntlet of so many grinding seasons.
Players are going to get hurt, and when that happens, it will be a next-man-up mentality, and an opportunity for the prospects to get a taste of the NHL. This actually happened a lot last season; way more than the Blackhawks really wanted. Rookies were thrown into the fire when maybe they weren’t quite ready. Often times that can hinder a prospect’s development. This is probably a reason the organization might have gone a little overboard with their veteran signings.
Here’s a list of the younger players from last season, and how many games each played.
| Player: | Age: | Games Played: |
| Kevin Korchinski | 20 | 76 games played (NHL debut) |
| Lukas Reichel | 22 | 65 games played |
| Isaak Phillips | 22 | 33 games played |
| Wyatt Kaiser | 22 | 32 games played |
| Arvid Soderblom | 24 | 32 games played |
| Louis Crevier | 23 | 24 games played (NHL debut) |
| Landon Slaggert | 22 | 16 games played (NHL debut) |
| Filip Roos | 25 | 4 games played |
| Frank Nazar | 20 | 3 games played (NHL debut) |
| Ethan Del Mastro | 21 | 2 games played (NHL debut) |
That’s 10 prospects who suited up for games in the 2023-24 season, five of them making their NHL debuts. Some might have benefited from their time with the big club. Others might have been overwhelmed, and it affected their confidence. After all, everyone is different; everyone learns on a different curve, or responds in a different way.
The point here is the Blackhawks will likely have plenty of opportunities to give the younger players chances. Plus, they have more depth now. This will allow them to determine who will benefit from different situations, and actually be able to execute it. In short, they’ll have more options to give everyone a chance to succeed.
The Balancing Act for the Blackhawks
All of this is going to make for a very interesting season for the Blackhawks. The plethora of veteran players will immediately make the team better, and give the younger skilled players a leg up from last season. The fans should benefit from watching better hockey, and the team will benefit from more winning.
Yes, the Blackhawks want to be better this season than they’ve been the last few seasons. But it’s probably a little far-fetched for them to have playoff aspirations. So, sprinkling in the youngsters here and there should be a priority. Despite the mistakes they will inevitably make, it can also be a learning experience to build upon their development. The prospects will get their chances, while also learning from time well spent in Rockford. They won’t be rushed or forced into unfavorable positions, like many were last season. Furthermore, the veterans won’t be around forever, so the kids can look forward to eventually stepping into their shoes.
It’s a balancing act, for sure. It will be fascinating to see how the organization juggles the old and the new throughout the season. But I believe the Blackhawks are in a good position to best utilize their veterans as well as develop their youth.