This morning I sat back and thought about the current state of the Chicago Blackhawks for a few minutes. The international media continues to say things like the Canadiens losing to the second-worst team in hockey is unacceptable and the Jets took their foot off the gas against a terrible Blackhawks team. There are still comments made and podcasts that will waste time telling us that the centerpiece of the rebuild is unhappy and there isn’t hope in Chicago.
If you watched the last few weeks of the Blackhawks’ regular season, you know that’s far from reality.
And I came to the conclusion that the last time I felt like this about the Blackhawks heading into an offseason was probably 2008.
For the last three years, Blackhawks fans have been sold on the idea of hope — that the organ-I-zation was stockpiling prospects and draft capital to overhaul the depth of the system and build a pipeline from scratch that was going to make the team successful again. I’ve been one of those that has begged for patience along the long, painful road of the rebuild.
That patience is now starting to pay dividends.
I’ve noted this before but it bears repeating: since becoming the permanent general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks, Kyle Davidson has made 30 picks in the NHL draft. He has now signed 15 of those players, and seven have appeared in an NHL game. Those are terrific ratios on the surface, but we’re still going to ask what those players are worth and how they look when they get to the NHL.
Well, now we have some results. There are performances and statistics for us to consider from those three draft classes (and a few before that). The youth movement has started to arrive in Chicago, and the hope that was focused on somewhere down the road is now tangible. We have seen a handful of young guys play in the league, and they’ve been good. Really good.
So let’s take a minute to take a step back now that the 2024-25 season is officially in the books and digest what the under-23 group of players have shown us at the NHL level thus far. I’m keeping this to under-23 so you won’t get anything on Alex Vlasic or Spencer Knight here. And I’m not going to include Ryan Greene yet because he only skated in two NHL games and I want to focus our discussion on what we saw at the NHL level this season.
#Blackhawks power play goal
Connor Bedard
Tyler Bertuzzi, Sam Rinzel
pic.twitter.com/0e6G2ljVpt
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) April 16, 2025Connor Bedard
- 2024-25 Stats: 82 games played, 23 goals, 44 assists, 67 points
There will still be haters who will go out of their way to say Bedard isn’t living up to the hype. They might point to his 38.6 career faceoff percentage to date. They might want to continue to point to his plus-minus. That’s all fine. If you take a step back and wrap his two seasons in some context — especially considering the number of linemates with whom he’s skated in two years — there’s plenty to be excited about. When you’re reminded he’s still only 19, it’s pretty damn impressive.
Let’s throw a little context on Bedard’s two seasons in the NHL. Since 2000-01, the players who have produced more than Bedard’s 128 points (in 150 games) as a teenager: Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos and Patrik Laine. That’s it. That’s the entire list. The players with a better point-per-game rate (Bedard: 0.85) as a teenager over the same time period (min. 20 games played): Crosby, Connor McDavid, Macklin Celebrini, Patrick Kane, Stamkos and Laine. And Celebini has only done it for the one season (63 games). The only teenager in Blackhawks history with more points before turning 20: Eddie Olczyk — who beat him by one (129).
Bedard is still getting better. He’s still physically growing. He’s still maturing. And he’s learning. Since March 4, Bedard has won 46.1 percent of his faceoffs. He’s 50 percent at the dot in the neutral zone over those 21 games. There are areas that he needs to work on. If you’ve paid attention at all, one thing we don’t have to worry about with Bedard is working on his game. And the reinforcements are no longer “coming soon.” Many of them are already here.
Talia Sprague-Imagn Images
Frank Nazar
- 2024-25 Stats: 53 games played, 12 goals, 14 assists, 26 points
Since Nazar made his initial NHL appearance this season on Dec. 14, only four rookies have more than Nazar’s 10 even-strength goals: Cutter Gauthier, Marco Kasper, Jiri Kulich and Matvei Michkov. Only Kasper and Jackson Blake have more than Nazar’s two game-winning goals. He leads all rookies with two short-handed points and only three rookies scored a short-handed goal this season.
NHL Edge tells us his speed is elite:
Nazar won 44.6 percent of his faceoffs for the season. That goes up to 45.6 since March 1. And only three rookies have scored more than Nazar’s six even-strength goals since March 1. He’s contributing now on both special teams and generating chances. He was was credited with 35 blocked shots and 30 hits this season as well. According to Natural Stat Trick, Nazar generated 43 individual High Danger Chances at 5-on-5 in his 53 appearances. The four Blackhawks who generated more for the entire season all played in at least 78 games. Tyler Bertuzzi had seven more in almost 400 more minutes of ice time at 5-on-5.
Talia Sprague-Imagn Images
Sam Rinzel
- 2024-25 Stats: 9 games played, 5 assists, 5 points
The sample size isn’t enormous, but Rinzel averaged 23:22 per game in his nine appearances — the highest average on the roster (excluding the defenseman traded to Florida). He put 22 shots on net and picked up three power play assists in his limited run in the NHL after a stellar season at Minnesota.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Blackhawks’ expected Goals For with Rinzel on the ice at 5-on-5 was 7.6 — in only 165:46 of ice time. He had the second-best Corsi For percentage on the roster (behind Ethan Del Mastro).
Rinzel came in right out of college and assumed the top spot on the right side of the blue line on the depth chart and didn’t blink. He’s now running the top power play unit as well. His skating is terrific. His puck moving skills are NHL caliber. There are still going to be growing pain moments, but he’s an NHL player.
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Oliver Moore
- 2024-25 Stats: 9 games played, 4 assists, 4 points
The Blackhawks didn’t push Moore into the same level of role they did with Rinzel as quickly; Moore averaged only 13:35 per game in his NHL appearance this season. In that role, we didn’t get many chances to see his all-world speed, but we did get to see him play a smart, 200-foot game and he was able to generate some offense as well.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the only forwards with a better Corsi For percentage at 5-on-5 than Moore (46.32) — other than Ryan Greene (in two games) — were Ilya Mikheyev and Teuvo Teräväinen. The Blackhawks gave him a little run on the power play and penalty kill, but identifying his style of play and speed led to him seeing over three minutes of overtime ice time. The package of speed and defensive awareness in Moore, Nazar and Mikheyev could give the Blackhawks an absolutely lethal set of options on the PK and in overtime next year.
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Ethan Del Mastro
- 2024-25 Stats: 24 games played, 2 goals, 4 assists, 6 points
I’ve been higher on Del Mastro than lots of folks since he was drafted; there were questions about how high I had him in my prospect rankings over the past couple years. He’s been a captain in junior, wore an A for Canada at the World Juniors and was an AHL All-Star in his first professional season for Rockford last year.
This season, Del Mastro came up and played well in the NHL. He averaged 18:19 per game and showed the physical elements of his game that he was known for when the Blackhawks drafted him in the fourth round (No. 105 overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft.
There were questions about his ability to move the puck and skate when he was drafted. He’s answered those, working hard to be better in every aspect of his game. He showed an ability to stay calm under pressure and move the puck up the ice this season, even with the constantly evolving roster around him.
I’m confident now that he can be a top-four player on the left side of the Blackhawks’ blue line for years to come. It will be interesting to see how the Blackhawks set up their blue line to open training camp next year with Del Mastro and the younger guys on the blue line. Which feels crazy to write because Del Mastro won’t turn 23 until the middle of January.
Talia Sprague-Imagn Images
Artyom Levshunov
- 2024-25 Stats: 18 games played, 6 assists, 6 points
Again, a reminder: Levshunov won’t turn 20 until we’re three weeks into the 2025-26 season (Oct. 28). He came into the NHL this season and skated an average of 20:19 per game as a teenager. He was initially handed the keys to the top power play unit, and there were growing pains — there are going to be tough moments for a teenager on the blue line. But he showed well.
We also need to keep in mind that this was not only Levshunov’s first professional season, but his path to the NHL has been so fast. He played 46 games for a U18 team in Belarus three years ago, 62 games for Green Bay in the USHL and then 38 games for Michigan State before he was drafted. This year he spent 50 games with Rockford before coming up to the NHL.
The Blackhawks love how quickly he adapts and how much he learns and implements things into his game, as evidenced by the trajectory of his career path. And, with Rinzel now in the NHL with him, the pressure is off him to be a savoir on the blue line.
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Kevin Korchinski
- 2024-25 Stats: 16 games played, 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points
Korchinski spent most of this season in the AHL, where he not only represented the IceHogs in the AHL All-Star Classic but was named the MVP of the event. He averaged just 17:05 on the ice in the NHL this season, down almost three minutes per night from his workload as a 19-year-old in 76 games last year.
Defensemen take time to develop, and he was rushed into the NHL last year because there was nothing left for him to prove in junior. The best thing for Korchinski at this stage in the rebuild: he is no longer being asked to come up and save the blue line. He doesn’t need to “save the power play” and he doesn’t have to skate heavy minutes. The Blackhawks’ depth on the back end is going to benefit Korchinski in the coming years.
His skating is still exceptional and his puck moving has improved. He knows he needs to get stronger, but let’s all keep in mind that he doesn’t turn 21 until June 21. There are still plenty of reasons to be excited about the ceiling for Korchinski. And now there shouldn’t be as much pressure for him to reach that potential faster.
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Nolan Allan
- 2024-25 Stats: 43 games played, 1 goal, 7 assists, 8 points
Let’s not sleep on the role Allan could play for the Blackhawks in the coming years. He’s played both sides of the blue line well at both the NHL and AHL levels. And it’s kinda wild that only eight rookie defensemen have more points than Allan still today even though he didn’t appear in an NHL game after Feb. 25.
Allan piled up 48 blocked shots and 61 hits while averaging 15:08 on the ice in the NHL this season. Like Del Mastro, he was a captain in junior and won gold with Canada at the World Juniors. He’s a classic shut-down defenseman who rarely looked rushed while he was in the NHL this season — and he doesn’t turn 22 until April 28.
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Landon Slaggert
- 2024-25 Stats: 33 games played, 2 goals, 4 assists, 6 points
Slaggert’s the “old man” here because he turns 23 on June 25. After making a strong first impression in the NHL at the end of last season, he began the year in Rockford and earned the call-up in the middle of the season. He slotted into a bottom-six role and averaged only 12:18 per game. But he was one of two rookies (with Nazar) to score a game-winning goal for the Blackhawks this season.
Slaggert is yet another player who was a leader before moving to the pro ranks; he was the captain at Notre Dame last year. His skating is NHL caliber and his shot is actually better than I think many expected; NHL Edge has his hardest shot at 89.53 mph, which ranked in the 75th percentile in the league. Slaggert was also credited with 25 hits and 13 blocked shots this season and averaged 46 seconds per game of penalty kill time.
There might not be as much flash in his game as some of the other forwards in the system, but he goes to the dirty areas and grinds.
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Wyatt Kaiser
- 2024-25 Stats: 57 games played, 4 goals, 4 assists, 8 points
Kaiser’s season got off to a delayed start because of a health scare at the start of training camp but he settled in and showed that he’s an NHL defender. He skated 18:07 per game of which he averaged 1:34 per game on the penalty kill. He finished the season third on the roster with 93 blocked shots and was also credited with 54 hits.
He can skate and move the puck but is also willing to give up his body to keep the puck away from the net. But Kaiser is the biggest unknown on this list heading into the summer because he’s a restricted free agent. He’ll turn 23 on the last day of July and has taken big steps forward with every aspect of his game.
