The Chicago Blackhawks are going to have a very different look this season as the group is much older, deeper and more experienced. While general manager Kyle Davidson and coach Luke Richardson gave many young players opportunities last season, only two — defenseman Alex Vlasic and forward Philipp Kurashev — had real breakout years.
In 2024-25, the Blackhawks will be better, but the young players and prospects will have to really prove themselves to earn jobs. We will see fewer opportunities for breakouts by players on the Blackhawks this season because of it, but realistically it should create better competition and more drive for the players to earn spots.
Last season the Blackhawks showcased Connor Bedard, and the rookie came in swinging. While that shouldn’t be seen as a breakout since it was his first season in the NHL, Kurashev’s and Vlasic’s performances were.
Who has the potential to break out in 2024-25 for the Blackhawks? Defenseman Kevin Korchinski and center Lukas Reichel.
Kevin Korchinski
Korchinski was thrown into a less than ideal situation last season as a 19-year-old rookie. A year in the AHL would’ve done him well, but his age forced the Blackhawks to decide between sending him back to Seattle of the WHL for another season after dominating or putting him on Chicago in the NHL. He wouldn’t have gotten much more development in junior and he might have been better off if the Blackhawks didn’t need him to play top-4 minutes right off the bat.
The Blackhawks depth on defense was not great and injuries only made it worse. Korchinski, paired with Connor Murphy, would have been fine in his rookie season had Murphy not missed 36 games.
The Blackhawks weren’t able to shelter Korchinski in his first season where he could have learned behind some more established defensemen. This was because Vlasic was young, other prospects were given a chance to play (Wyatt Kaiser, Louis Crevier, Isaak Phillips), and the veterans below Korchinski on the depth chart included Jaycob Megna, Jarred Tinordi, and Nikita Zaitsev, two of whom don’t even have NHL contracts this season.
Korchinski averaged 19:17 of ice time last season and scored five goals and 15 points in 75 games, but was also a -39. He started over 60% of the faceoffs at even strength in the offensive zone, so Richardson saw the potential and offensive ability. One big problem is that the Blackhawks were very bad offensively, scoring just 178 goals which ranked last in the league.