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The Chicago Blackhawks finished third from the bottom of the NHL yet somehow still exceeded expectations.
They upset several teams that started their Stanley Cup chase this week, including the Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames.
And that’s with the Hawks shuffling young skaters through a revolving door, particularly after the trade deadline.
“You never really knew who was going to be in on any, and that’s a testament to the team and the organization that we’re able to keep battling,” said Tyler Johnson, who had become accustomed to making the playoffs with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
But playing spoiler is a far cry from playing in the postseason.
“Yeah, it hurts. It hurts not being in the playoffs,” defenseman Connor Murphy during Hawks exit interviews last week. “That wouldn’t be just me, it’s everyone.”
To be blunt: Get used to it.
The Hawks saw a lot of roster turnover during the season, and they’re destined for another makeover over the summer.
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane — the last tethers to the Hawks’ Stanley Cup dynasty — are gone. Kane was one of five everyday players who were traded by March 3.
Toews is one of 11 Hawks who became unrestricted or restricted free agents — not counting ones with the Rockford IceHogs for the AHL playoffs — and not all of them will be re-signed.
The Hawks have 34 players under standard contract and just 14 on next season’s active roster, according to Capfriendly.com. Based on the Hawks’ projected $42.57 million cap hit, they’re short of the league’s $61.7 million floor by about $19 million and a mountain of distance from the $83.5 million ceiling.
And consider these factors: The Hawks successfully flipped free agents and could mine that source again, and several prospects will become everyday players or get called up to get their first taste of the NHL.
In other words, expect that roster turnstile to keeps spinning.
“The flexibility aspect is really key for us because we don’t want to block any of our young prospects out, should they show us that they’re ready to play full-time NHL minutes,” general manager Kyle Davidson said. “And if you have long-term contracts, then they could block players out.”
Still, veterans such as Johnson would like some stability, reassurance that the teardown process is over.
“Hopefully we can take that next step and maybe not have as many moving parts, but everyone come in, fill some roles and start building,” Johnson said.
The Hawks have some decisions to make over the summer as they continue building. Here’s a look.
Seth Jones, defenseman
Status: Signed through 2029-30 ($9.5 million cap hit)
With Toews off the roster, Jones takes up the largest share of the Hawks’ cap (11.5%).
Jones got off to a slow start, notching a goal and nine assists through New Year’s Day, but kicked into another gear with three goals and nine assists in January and another eight goals and seven assists the rest of the season.
“When we were good, he was our best player,” coach Luke Richardson said. “He was playing great defensive hockey. He was killing plays. … Then his skating ability for a big guy, he got up in the play and it was always at the right times.”
Jones chalked it up to “maybe just picking spots a little bit better.”
Before things clicked for him, he admitted he had been pressing.
“I don’t like losing,” he said. “I understand the situation (the rebuild), and one guy’s not going to change that. But sometimes in the midst of the game we don’t get a lot of offense and sometimes I’m trying to create a little bit and it takes away from the defensive side.”
Jarred Tinordi, defenseman
Status: Signed a one-year, $1.2 million contract April 11.
Tinordi doesn’t need to shear his face to remember his rough December — a skate gashed his chin — nine days before he took a puck to the face.
“This is the lowest I took the beard down, but the scar on the chin is not too bad,” he said. “I think I’m just going to keep the beard and hide it as much as I can.”
The one-year deal helps make up for it. Tinordi wasn’t sure where his career would be before the Hawks claimed him off waivers from the New York Rangers in October.
“You come to a new team right at the start of the year, you don’t get a training camp, you don’t really know anybody here, you don’t know what to expect,” he said. “My goal coming into the year was just play, just have fun playing again.”
Tinordi 139 hits placed third on the Hawks despite playing just 44 games, and he got in a fight his first game back from a facial fracture.
“The physicality maybe was somewhere that I saw, looking at the roster, I could help the team before I got here,” he said.
Davidson brought him back “because of the leadership, because of the example, because of the influence we saw him having on young players when they would come up as well as his play.”
Tinordi still has to see the dentist this offseason.
“The teeth are still out of align a little bit,” he said. “The surgeon that fixed the jaw and the broken bones. He wasn’t a dentist, so he did the best he could with that.”
Lukas Reichel, forward
Status: Signed through 2023-24 ($925,000)
Reichel was limited to 23 games and finished third on the team in points per game (0.65) behind Kane and Max Domi. And he just looked like a smoother, more well-rounded player.
“Since he’s come in here you can tell he’s got the speed, he’s got the skill,” Toews said. “And it’s just a matter of time before he starts learning the game and learning how to find spots in the open ice and creating time and space for himself to be able to use that skill.
“He’s starting to show that pretty quick. It’s nice to see how he’s progressing.”
Toews said Reichel’s time in Rockford let him find patience and confidence, and Davidson said he established good habits there.
“Not that he had bad habits before, but there were some things we wanted him to clean up, some things we wanted him to experience,” Davidson said. “Playing center, playing big minutes, every situation, leadership role.”
Richardson noted Reichel’s competitiveness as well as his physical growth (15 pounds) and maturity.
“We’ve asked him to do some things to work on his game away from the puck,” Richardson said. “He’s done that. He’s got a little bigger and stronger to compete here every game for next year, and he knows that and he has a good plan for this summer.”
Connor Murphy, defenseman
Status: Signed through 2025-26 ($4.4 million)
There’s nothing audacious about Murphy’s game, yet he tied for 16th in the league with 160 blocks.
He has been an alternate captain for the last four seasons but wouldn’t touch the subject of possibly assuming the mantle from Toews.
“No, I haven’t thought about it,” he said. “I don’t know if that would be right after your Tazer.”
That’s not to say he wouldn’t borrow some motivational words from the longtime captain.
“We heard from Tazer last (game) and from guys who have been here that Tazer’s great line is, ‘The juice is worth the squeeze’ because a city like Chicago and the fans and the organization is first class and Original Six,” Murphy said. “It doesn’t get any better of a foundation than that.
“So it’s really important for every guy to take advantage of their opportunity to become something here.”
MacKenzie Entwistle, forward
Status: Signed through 2023-24 ($800,000)
The fourth-liner has a season left to show the Hawks his value before he becomes a restricted free agent. He was hampered by a wrist injury in the second half of last season.
“It’s still kind of bothering me, but it’s more just rest,” he said. “I’m just going to use the summer to stay off the ice for the time that I need to and it should get better.”
Wyatt Kaiser, defenseman
Status: Signed through 2024-25 ($916,667)
Kaiser ranked second on the University of Minnesota-Duluth with 18 assists and added five goals in 35 games.
With the Hawks, he registered three assists in nine games and impressed coaches with his quick adjustment to the pros.
“Because he moves his feet so well, the opportunities (to join the rush) showed themselves to him,” Richardson said. “He’s not afraid to battle guys. He’s confident, not just in his skating ability but in his strength and play of the game.”
Boris Katchouk, forward
Status: Signed through 2023-24 ($758,333)
Katchouk’s season was a slow boil, but he entered with a left ankle sprain. March was his best month with three goals and five assists in 15 games.
Richardson said more ice time helped, and “he finally got on a line (with Jujhar Khaira and Joey Anderson) that kind of clicked too.”
“They’re all good skaters, they’re not afraid to forecheck and get to the net,” Richardson said.
He said putting Katchouk on the penalty kill helped his development as a skater: “He’s a good skater for a big body and I think that gets him just a little bit more engaged in the game.”
That doesn’t mean Richardson co-signs that spin–o-rama move Katchouk tried a few times late in the season.
“I kind of cringe when he does it,” Richardson said with a laugh.
Cole Guttman, forward
Status: Signed through 2023-24 ($950,000)
Guttman notched back-to-back goals in his third and fourth games and finished his season with three straight points before having right shoulder surgery March 14. He injured the shoulder in November but kept playing.
“He was playing phenomenal,” Tyler Johnson said.
Richards said Guttman “showed enough.” The Hawks wanted to give him plenty of recovery time leading to training camp.
Andreas Athanasiou, forward
Status: Unrestricted free agent (last cap hit: $3 million)
Athanasiou finished strong — six goals and 12 assists in 21 games after the trade deadline — and maintained his speed while taking on center duties.
Athanasiou said center was his natural position growing up, and Richardson added, “Center ice really does him well. Maybe next year that’s a spot that he can fit here. That’ll be up to management and his team to see where his opportunities (are).”
It seems like a perfect, mutually beneficial situation:
Athanasiou keeps getting top-line duties and possibly a modest raise, and the Hawks keep a forward who had a lot to do with Reichel’s development. And who knows, maybe he even draws trade interest.
“Anytime you get an opportunity to play in this league, it’s an awesome thing,” Athanasiou said. “Obviously that’s in my head. I’d love to be a Blackhawk for sure.”
And Athanasiou has changed addresses four times in the last five years.
“It’s fun moving every year,” he said with a laugh.
Philipp Kurashev, forward
Status: Restricted free agent (last cap hit: $750,000)
He reached career highs in goals (nine), assists (16) and games played (70).
While he didn’t take a big step offensively — and Richardson felt he could be stronger on the puck and shoot more — the Hawks like his versatility.
“The thing we talked to Phil about at the end of last year is just consistency, bringing a consistent effort, positive impact,” Davidson said. “Every night is probably a little ambitious, but just bringing it more than he did in the past. And he did that.
“I thought he had a really strong year. Established himself as a smart, two-way forward.”
Joey Anderson, forward
Status: Restricted free agent ($750,000)
The Hawks pried a 2025 first-round pick and a 2026 second-rounder from the Toronto Maple Leafs for Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty, but Anderson looks like more than just a bonus in the package.
He had four goals and two assists in 24 games for the Hawks, but the potential goes beyond the numbers: He fits their mold.
“Joey Anderson has been fantastic and brings a high compete level every game, always seems dangerous on the ice,” Davidson said. “It’s something we’ve been really pleased about, that players we’ve identified (such as Anderson) have worked in our system.”
Caleb Jones, defenseman
Status: Restricted free agent ($1.35 million)
Jones seemed to play better when paired with his brother, Seth, but will it be enough?
“It’s the same as last year,” Caleb said. “I was going (into the summer) as an RFA. You just control what you can control.”
There’s a lot of give and take with Jones. He brings speed, added offense and power play and averaged five blocks per game, but he also led the team in defensive zone giveaways (44), according to moneypuck.com.
“It was a little bit up and down,” Jones said. “Just like our team, it was a grind for sure.
“I did take a lot of steps forward, especially the last couple months here, getting to play with Seth. I think I played some of my best hockey since I’ve been in Chicago, so that’s something positive I can build off of for next year.”
Ian Mitchell, defenseman
Status: Restricted free agent (last cap hit: $925,000)
Mitchell had a goal and seven assists in 35 games. His size (5-foot-11, 193 pounds) made it difficult to hold up against big forwards, and he has had some hard luck defensively, such as when the Flames center Mikael Backlund’s puck bounced off his skate and in the net on April 3.
“Ian’s still a younger player and had some development ups and downs there early in his career, but he’s a good player with a great attitude,” Davidson said.
Anders Bjork, forward
Status: Restricted free agent (last cap hit: $1.6 million)
The Hawks really like Bjork, and it’s likely they will work something out. They acquired him March 2 from the Buffalo Sabres for future considerations.
Thirteen games is a small sample size, but he generated two goals and six assists, averaging 0.62 points per game (fourth-best on the team), and had the second-best rating at plus-4.
“He played really well early, had a couple of good games, nice assists and unfortunately he got hurt,” Richardson said. “It’s hard to catch up when you miss some time. It took him a few games to get going.”
Alex Stalock, goaltender
Status: Unrestricted free agent (previous cap hit: $750,000)
Stalock had a better save percentage (.908) and goals-against average (3.01) than Petr Mrázek (.894, 3.66).
To make 24 starts after being derailed by a concussion and an ocular condition, respectively, is a victory in itself.
But the Hawks have promising young goalies Arvid Söderblom and Jaxson Stauber waiting in the wings, and despite his age (35) and health issues, Stalock might command more time and money than the Hawks want to give him.
Asked whether he wants to stay, Stalock replied, “That’s discussions you have with Kyle and the front office, see where they’re at, see what changes they want to make, who they feel is ready to make a jump.
“Obviously we saw multiple goaltenders come up this year during injuries and they all played great and probably deserve a chance. There’s a time when younger is better than older.”
Davidson said he’ll “let it play out.”
“Arvid needs a new contract this summer, so we’ll work through that in time as well,” Davidson said. “But he’s had a really good year and I thought he was great when he came up to the NHL level. So was Stauber.”
Jujhar Khaira, forward
Status: Unrestricted free agent ($975,000)
Stan Bowman signed him two summers ago to be a Swiss Army knife, bottom-six forward, and for the most part he filled that role — when healthy.
But Khaira played just 27 games his first season in Chicago and 51 games in 2022-23. His nagging back injury was slow to recover last season.
“The start was in and out of the lineup a little bit and trying to find it, but then by the end of the year I finished off strong, I finished how I wanted to,” he said.
Come next season, Khaira might be standing in the way of a prospect.
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“There’s a lot of stuff going on here too with the roster, so I guess I’ll let my agent deal with (whether he re-signs),” he said. “But whatever happens, (I’ve) always been super thankful to these guys and grateful for the opportunity.”
Nikita Zaitsev, defenseman
Status: Signed through 2023-24 ($4.5 million)
Zaitsev was traded from the Senators in late February. It got his salary off the books and fetched a 2023 second-round pick and 2026 fourth-rounder. And the Hawks needed another body on defense.
But they don’t have any long-term ties to the 31-year-old. If anyone seems like a buyout candidate, it’s him.
“That’s something we’ll probably determine over the next couple of months when we see what’s available on the trade market,” Davidson said about buyouts in general.
In a buyout scenario, Zaitsev’s cap hit would total $3.67 million over the next two seasons.
