Blackhawks Stock Index: Pecking Order for Pending Free Agents

This version of the Blackhawks Stock Index looks at the roster as is right now. Looking within as 17 games remain, it stands that 11 currently on the roster are either UFA’s (6) or RFA’s (5). Of the restricted free agents, all five currently on the roster have arbitration rights. One name not on there is Lukas Reichel, who will be an RFA without arbitration but is currently in Rockford.

One has to believe Reichel will be back on the roster to kick off the 2024-25 season–unless management has other plans. Other names include Filip Roos, Louis Crevier, Cole Guttman, and Isaak Phillips. Outside of Reichel, those players will be analyzed in another piece.

Here’s a tiered stock index version of those 11 players, with some added thoughts about those in Rockford.

One final note – Alex Vlasic is a lock to be on the roster so he’s omitted from this analysis. The current breakdown of those who are as of now, a lock to be on the roster:

Forwards: Taylor Hall, Connor Bedard, Philipp Kurashev, Nick Foligno, Andreas Athanasiou, Jason Dickinson, Ryan Donato

Defenseman: Seth Jones, Vlasic, Kevin Korchinski, Connor Murphy

Finally, to understand the rationale, CHN’s view of the rebuild stands to reason like this. Please note that if the Blackhawks win the draft lottery–the 2025-26 season is far more likely to be an expected playoff season with how Davidson has structured his contracts. This piece is simply assuming they don’t win the lottery. Here’s a look:

2023-24: Rock bottom
2024-25: Rebuild 2.0 (Younger talent comes up, stronger players added, seeking an 8+ win total improvement if 20 wins or less this season)
2025-26: Realistic Playoff Chance (Young core established, more talent in, high calbier free agents/trades added)
2026-27 season: Should absolutely be a playoff team

Contenders To Be on the Blackhawks Roster on Opening Night

• Lukas Reichel
• Colin Blackwell
• Tyler Johnson
• Joey Anderson

Blackwell’s hat trick only seemed to secure his spot more, a guy who teammates love and brings endless energy to the ice. With potentially five spots open, Blackwell is someone who has been working with Dickinson and Anderson and could be a very strong third line for the Blackhawks next season, presuambly with an injured Hall and Athanasiou filling out the top two lines.

Anderson, then, factors in because he, Dickinson, and Blackwell have been a good line for head coach Luke Richardson. Keeping them together, and potentially shifting them down could be a nice punch for a bottom six crew. Dickinson’s production, however, seems likelier to keep him a big higher for now.

Johnson is one of Chicago’s leading scorers and has a championship pedigree that is valuable to the locker room. With that said, his numbers are down from last year and if the Hawks decide to move on, that could factor in. However, he’s been an asset on the power play and depending on how Kyle Davidson decides to proceed forward, could be a nice depth piece as younger players are added. Beyond that, if Davidson didn’t want to lose him for nothing, he likely would have found a way to deal him and get back an asset. So he seems a strong likelihood of coming back.

As for Reichel, well, all the Blackhawks can hope for is a resurgence next season. He’s been nearly a point-per-game in Rockford, but has yet to score a goal, which was supposed to be the key to his game in Chicago. Confidence issues certainly are a concern, and it’s almost assured that he’ll be exclusively a wing going forward with the Blackhawks.

A Late Push Could Help Their Standing

• Taylor Raddysh
• MacKenzie Entwistle
• Reese Johnson

Raddysh has experienced a tough season, snakebitten in his production, seeing a steep dropoff from last season’s 20 goal, 37-point performance. He’s under team control and the club has the bargaining power if things would go to arbitration with the decrease in production. But last year looks as a potential anomaly, where maybe it was the ceiling. Now, to be fair, Raddysh’s shooting percentage is far below his career average and his expected goal total was clocking in around 10 goals. Raddysh, along with Entwistle, is as bubble as bubble can be with this list, but the Blackhawks letting him to go to free agency in light of this season’s struggles wouldn’t come as a shock, either.

Entwistle’s game has been strong and he’s valuable forechecking and in terms of grit. But he struggles to finish his chances, which puts him a stride behind the likes of Anderson, and Blackwell who are on the second line and contributing more consistently. He has just one goal in his last 35 games, a marker against Detroit on February 25th. On what will be a more crowded roster next season, it will likely take some work to ensure a spot on the opening night lineup next year.

Johnson is a physical presence so his output isn’t as paramount as Raddysh’s, but he hasn’t been as much of a go-to in the lineup. Ironically, though, his numbers with 15 fewer games than last season are right on par. A late season push for him could give him a solid chance at retaining a spot to start the season–he did have an assist in the 7-4 win over Arizona Sunday night.

Not Likely To Be Back

• Jarred Tinordi
• Nikita Zaitsev
• Jaycob Megna
• Zach Sanford

To be honest, Tinordi could very well be picked up for an additional season for depth purposes. However, if there’s anywhere that Davidson really looks to fortify the team’s strength, it’s on the blue line. Four spots are already spoken for, and it’s very likely that Ethan Del Mastro will lock up a fifth spot. That leaves a final pairing which I think they’ll look to acquire via trade or potentially in the draft if they don’t have a chance to get Macklin Celebrini. Wyatt Kaiser will likely slot into Chicago next year on a more full time basis since he can play both sides. So, too, can Del Mastro. But as written before, strong blue lines win Stanley Cups and if there’s going to be a jump for next season’s team, this is where it will have to start.

Sanford has been a pro’s pro for the Blackhawks since being acquired for depth purposes, but again, it’s likely Davidson looks for more to fortify things as the club seeks to take a bigger step next season.

Final Thoughts

If Landon Slaggert has a strong portion of this season and then preseason, the open spots in the lineup whittles down to four. Should the Blackhawks decide to bring in Frank Nazar and maybe even Oliver Moore, now it really gets tight. Now imagine if the Blackhawks win the lottery again and are able to grab Macklin Celebrini.

All of that remains to be seen. But as things stand right now, without hypotheticals, this tiered look looks at who goes into the final stretch of the season with the best odds to return on the big club’s roster.

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