There’s not much help for Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard these days.
Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic explored that thought in depth last week, landing on the conclusion that Bedard is in the worst situation during the rookie season of any No. 1 overall pick since, at least, Taylor Hall in 2010.
It’s not a fatal flaw of Chicago’s ongoing rebuild that Bedard is skating alongside other players who are nowhere near his offensive capabilities, but it will also be a vital part of the team’s overall progress in the next few seasons that they find other talented forwards to ensure Bedard is no longer on an island.
Sure, the Blackhawks tried to get him some help. The aforementioned Hall was brought in via trade but played in just 10 games before heading to injured reserve for the rest of the season. Philipp Kurashev, who turned 24 in October, has been Bedard’s most frequent linemate and is enjoying a career-best pace of 16 points in 21 games, but he’s probably slotted further down the lineup when this team is back among the league’s elite. Lukas Reichel, the 2020 first-round pick, has bounced all over the lineup and even been a healthy scratch at one point as he’s struggled to find his NHL footing. The Kurashev-Reichel-Bedard line has skated 51:00 of 5-on-5 ice time together, per Natural Stat Trick, but was underwater in every possession metric and outscored 6-1 together. And the rest of Chicago’s forward corps is largely comprised of aging NHL veterans or AHL/NHL fringe players.
There isn’t exactly a ton of forward help in the Blackhawks system, either. Reichel could still develop into a top-six forward, but he was always projected as more of a second-line contributor than a top-line star, regardless of whether he ends up as a center or a wing. Similar things could be said about 2023 No. 19 overall pick Oliver Moore or 2022 No. 13 overall pick Frank Nazar. And that’s not a slight to any of those prospects, either, because landing top-six forwards in the teens of the first round is every bit as essential as landing star talents when picking in the single digits. The Blackhawks appear to have done that with Bedard — and possibly with 2022 No. 7 pick Kevin Korchinski — and corners of the fan base are already clamoring for Chicago to land the No. 1 overall pick again so it can nab Boston University freshman Macklin Celebrini in 2024.
Eventually, Chicago is going to need a forward who can compliment Bedard atop the lineup. It needs the Malkin to their Crosby, the Kucherov to their Stamkos, the Draisaitl to their McDavid or, of course, the Toews to their Kane. It’s possible one of the three prospects referenced in the paragraph above become that guy, because developing that talent from within is the ideal route — but it’s not the only one path to that goal, either. If such a player is available via trade, Chicago has the pieces to make it work. Along with a bevvy of defensive prospects, the Blackhawks own five first-round picks in the next three drafts and EIGHT second-rounders. If free agency has to be the way (hey there William Nylander), no team has more cap space than the Blackhawks right now and only seven of its skaters are under contract beyond this season.
It would’ve been great to have some other pieces at forward to help Bedard acclimate to the NHL this season, but this part of the process does not hinge on having those complimentary pieces around. Future seasons, though, will very much require those players to be present so that Chicago can eventually work its way out of the NHL’s basement.