The Chicago Blackhawks Must Be Smart With Rockford In 2024-25

Over the last few seasons, the Chicago Blackhawks have been rebuilding the franchise from scratch. The days of the dynasty are long over and they are starting to pick up the pieces.

It is never easy to stay elite in a salary-cap league, but Chicago found a way to do so for a little under a decade. In their rebuilding process, they managed to win the 2023 NHL Draft Lottery. That allowed them to select Connor Bedard with the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Bedard is a generational prospect who could be a top-five player in the NHL at his peak. With that said, you can’t win consistently in the NHL without having a great team surrounding the star player. You also need more than one true star.

In the recent drafts proceeding 2023 along with the ones after, they have been building what they hope is a great core that can help them reach sustained success again. Even the 2023 entry draft presented them with more than just Bedard.

Great young players in the draft like Alex Vlasic, Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, Kevin Korchinski, Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, and Sacha Boisvert amongst others are all high-ceiling players who can become impact players along the way. Some of them are closer than others but they are all worthy of being excited about at this time.

Of course, Connor Bedard is going to be in the NHL. He will never play a single minute for the Rockford Ice Hogs. Alex Vlasic is a good bet to be on the NHL  team as well but nobody else is a lock.

A few of these top prospects in the organization will be headed to college hockey or major juniors which is not a bad thing. Those are wonderful places for U23 players to develop.

For the guys who already turned pro, Chicago would be wise to utilize the Rockford Ice Hogs of the American Hockey League. This Rockford team could be great and it could pay dividends for a lot of young players if Kyle Davidson is smart with it.

There is no reason not to put Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar, and Artyom Levshunov amongst others down in Rockford. It may even be wise to use someone like Lukas Reichel down there as well. Seeing all of those guys get quality minutes on a good AHL team would be much more valuable than being on a bottom-five NHL team playing depth roles.

Long-term development is the key for Chicago right now. With the roster that they will be icing in the NHL, there is no reason to be even thinking about the playoffs. They signed enough veterans to make this line of thinking possible.

In the Central Division, they aren’t even close to the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, or Nashville Predators. They likely aren’t even close to the Utah Hockey Club or St. Louis Blues either.

They can start to catch up to those teams quickly though if they play their cards right. Emphasizing developing prospects with Rockford could play a big role in that.

If the right players are down there, the Ice Hogs could be in contention for the Calder Cup. Few NHL teams may be willing to stash that much talent down there for a whole season. Some of these guys may get a call-up here and there but dominating the AHL would be great for more than one great young player trying to become a Blackhawks star.