The Hawks got off to an ugly 4-7-3 start over the first month-plus of the season. Then something changed after a loss to the Sharks on Nov. 5. Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton was given a "change the system or else" ultimatum, sources said. He did change, and the Hawks won five of their next six games.
On Tuesday evening, the Blackhawks visit the Wild having won six of their past seven games. They currently sit three points out of the final wild-card spot and six points behind the third-place Avalanche in the Central Division.
Here are five storylines to get you caught up on the Blackhawks if you’re just jumping on their bandwagon now.
Rookie forward Kirby Dach (No. 3 overall pick in 2019), rookie defenseman Adam Boqvist (No. 8 pick in 2018) and rookie winger Dominik Kubalik (acquired from the Kings last season) have been big parts of the Blackhawks' success.
Dach, 19, has been playing his best hockey of the season over the last couple of weeks. Early on, he would flash once or twice a game but was a phantom more often than not. As the Blackhawks dealt with injuries to Dylan Strome, Brandon Saad and Andrew Shaw, Dach’s playing time increased. When it did, he elevated his game. Dach has seven goals and eight assists in 46 games. With young players, the point production is often the last part of the game that comes. If Dach continues to play and grow as he has recently, the sky is the limit.
Boqvist, who's considered purely an offensive defenseman, has been paired primarily with Duncan Keith lately, and it has worked well. After a period of adjustment, Boqvist’s confidence level has jumped. After struggling to stay afloat at the NHL level, Boqvist has turned into a power-play asset. More surprisingly, his defensive game has come around more quickly than expected. At Arizona on Saturday, Boqvist made a handful of solid defensive reads and blocked five shots on goal.
Kubalik, 24, leads all NHL rookies with 21 goals. His production has surged lately, as he has 10 goals and one assist in his last 10 games. He possesses a quick and accurate shot. Recently, Kubalik has done a good job at finding the spots to score and has adapted to the North American game well.
The Blackhawks shocked many across the NHL landscape when they signed goalie Robin Lehner in free agency last summer. They still had Corey Crawford under contract for one season and had locked up backup Colin Delia the year before, but general manager Stan Bowman saw an opportunity to solidify the position. It has proved to be a brilliant signing.
Lehner has a strong argument to be the team's MVP. His .922 save percentage is 10th in the NHL -- and he's posting that number behind a porous and injured-plagued Blackhawks defensive corps.
Crawford has been terrific in his own right. He has allowed just 10 goals over his last five starts and was fantastic between the pipes for the Hawks in their win Saturday. Without Lehner and Crawford, the postseason would be nothing but a pipe dream for Chicago. Instead, the Blackhawks are entrenched in a playoff race and playing well against some of the better teams in the league.
With 65 points in 52 games, Kane leads the Blackhawks in scoring by a mile. (Jonathan Toews is second on the team with 44 points.) Kane is currently on a 12-game point streak after he had a 15-game streak earlier in the season. At 31, Kane is playing the best hockey of his career.
Three-time Stanley Cup champion defenseman Brent Seabrook -- whose game has been in decline for some time -- is out for the season. After a series of healthy scratches, he finally decided in late December to shut it down and get his body fixed. Before this season ends, the 34-year-old Seabrook will have had surgery on both hips and a shoulder.
His decline and his physical health are the result of hard hockey miles compiled over his 15-year career. It remains to be seen whether Seabrook will play hockey again. That's a question the Blackhawks will need to answer, as they have several key free agents to re-sign this summer. That list includes restricted free agents in Strome and Kubalik and unrestricted free agent Lehner, who has already said he’s not interested in taking a discount.
As the NHL trade deadline looms on Feb. 24, Bowman is on the hot seat and the Blackhawks are close to a playoff spot. If the Blackhawks choose to stand pat and not trade impending free agents in Lehner, Crawford and defenseman Erik Gustafsson, they can compete for a playoff spot and perhaps surprise someone in the first round.
However, Bowman needs to weigh reality as well. Even if the Blackhawks do sneak into the playoffs, they’re not a Stanley Cup contender. Trading Gustafsson and one of the goaltenders could help replenish a weak farm system. Do the Hawks risk letting all three players walk away with no compensation or do they swallow hard and sell at the deadline?
Standing pat probably isn't the wise move in the big picture, but the other factor to remember here is that Bowman might be trying to save his job -- and a playoff appearance might do just that. A vote of confidence from on high might change Bowman's mindset. If he knows his job is safe regardless of the season’s outcome, it will likely change how he approaches the deadline.
February is crucial to the Blackhawks not only for this season but the next three or four that lie ahead. Every game is big in that it may dictate how Bowman navigates the trade deadline.
I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.