Extensive reconstruction begins in Chicago

After the 2022 NHL Draft, the opening of the free agent market and several staff moves during the offseason, NHL.com is profiling the various teams for the 2022-23 season, which begins on October 7. Today, the Chicago Blackhawks.

UPDATE : Arizona | buffalo | Calgary | carolina | columbus

Record in 2021-22 : 28-42-12, seventh in the Central section; excluded from the playoffs
Best striker : Alex DeBrincat (41)
Best passer : Patrick Kane (66)
Best scorer : Kane (92)

The arrivals

• Petr Mrazek (L)
• Max Domi (A)
• Andreas Athanasiou (A)
• Alex Stalock (L)
• Colin Blackwell (A)
• Luke Richardson (Head Coach)

Mrazek was acquired along with the 25th overall pick in the 2022 draft (Sam Rinzel) from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2022 second-round pick (Fraser Minten). Mrazek was limited to 20 games (18 starts) last season due to a groin injury. The 30-year-old went 12-6-0 with a 3.34 goals-against average and .888 save percentage. Domi, 27, signed a one-year contract on July 13. He had 39 points (11 goals, 28 assists) in 72 regular season games with the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets last season and six points (three goals, three assists) in 14 playoff games Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes.

Athanasiou, 27, agreed for a year on July 13. He had 17 points (11 goals, six assists) in 28 regular season games, adding one goal in six playoff games with the Los Angeles Kings last season. Stalock, who signed a one-year contract on July 13, played one game with the San Jose Sharks last season. The 34-year-old is expected to be the Blackhawks’ backup goaltender at the start of the season. Blackwell, 29, agreed to a two-year deal on July 13. He had 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in 58 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Seattle Kraken last season.

Video: LAK@EDM, #5: Brown sets up Athanasiou’s goal

Richardson was hired on June 27 to replace Derek King. He spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach with the Montreal Canadiens.

Departures

• Alex DeBrincat (A)
• Dylan Strome (HAS)
• Kirby Dach (A)
• Dominik Kubalik (A)
• Calvin de Haan (D)
• Erik Gustafsson (R)
• Kevin Lankinen (L)
• Collin Delia (L)
• Henrik Borgstrom (A)

DeBrincat was traded to the Ottawa Senators on July 7 for seventh (Kevin Korchinski) and 39th (Paul Ludwinski) overall picks in the 2022 draft and a third-round pick in 2024. He had 78 points for 82 games last season, leading the Blackhawks with 41 goals. Strome meanwhile became an unrestricted free agent after not receiving a qualifying offer from Chicago. He signed a one-year contract with the Washington Capitals on July 13. Strome had 48 points (22 goals, 26 assists) in 69 games last season.

Video: PHI@CHI: DeBrincat doubles the lead with a laser

The Blackhawks also traded Dach to the Canadiens for the 13th (Frank Nazar) and 66th (Gavin Hayes) overall picks in the 2022 draft on July 7. Dach had 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 70 games last season. Kubalik left Chicago via the free agent market after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Blackhawks and signed with the Detroit Red Wings for two seasons on July 13. He had 32 points (15 goals, 17 assists) in 78 games last season.

De Haan is still an unrestricted free agent, having had eight points (four goals, four assists) in 69 games last season. Gustafsson meanwhile signed a one-year contract with the Capitals on July 13. He had 18 points (three goals, 15 assists) in 59 games in 2021-22.

Lankinen signed a one-year contract with the Nashville Predators on July 14. He was 8-15-6 with a 3.50 GAA and .891 save percentage in 32 games (29 starts) last season. Delia, meanwhile, headed to Vancouver to join the Canucks for a year on July 13. He was 1-4-1 with a 3.85 GAA and .899 save percentage in eight games (six starts) last season.

Finally, Borgstrom signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Capitals on July 14. The final season of his two-year contract signed with the Blackhawks on May 12, 2021 has been bought out. He had seven points (four goals, three assists) in 52 games last season.

They knock on the door

• Lukas Reichel (A)
• Alex Vlasic (D)
• Arvid Soderblom (G)

Reichel, 20, was the 17th overall pick in the 2020 draft and had one assist in 11 games for the Blackhawks last season, along with 57 points (21 goals, 36 assists) in 56 games with the Rockford IceHogs, Chicago’s American Hockey League (AHL) farm club. With all the changes in the offseason, he should have a shot at earning a spot in Chicago this season.

Vlasic, 21, had one goal and one assist in 15 games with the Blackhawks last season after signing a rookie contract on March 15. He could be on the lineup for the Blackhawks opener. He had eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 32 games with Boston University before turning pro.

Soderblom played three games for the Blackhawks last season, going 0-2-0 with a 5.01 GAA and .863 save percentage. He was 21-15-2 with a 2.76 GAA and .919 save percentage in 38 AHL games.

Needs

The Blackhawks need to determine if veterans Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews will accept the reconstruction. General manager Kyle Davidson said July 14 that he’s had discussions with both forwards, but he’s unsure if they’ll buy into the Blackhawks’ plan. If Toews and Kane don’t want to be part of the rebuild, Chicago will have to trade them for assets to build on for the future.

what they said

“It is very difficult to determine expectations at the moment because before last season the projections were that we were going to be much better. I assume that at the start of the next season a lot of people are going to doubt us, so it will be up to the players on the ice to determine what the expectations are and the coaching staff to come up with a good game plan every night. . When the puck hits the ice, we’ll see how it goes, and that’s what we’re playing for. – Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson

Planned training 2022-23

Lukas Reichel — Jonathan Toews — Patrick Kane
Andreas Athanasiou — Max Domi — Tyler Johnson
Philip Kurashev — MacKenzie Entwistle — Colin Blackwell
Sam Lafferty — Jujhar Khaira — Taylor Raddysh

Jake McCabe — Seth Jones
Alex Vlasic — Connor Murphy
Riley Stillman — Caleb Jones

Petr Mrazek
Alex Stalock