In my previous article for Draft Pros I went over Kyle Davidson’s first two seasons and draft classes as general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks. In this article I plan to cover the rest of his tenure up to the current day. Including his 2024 free agency class, 2024 draft class, and we will also cover the 2024-2025 season.
The 2024 offseason was definitely a controversial one in hindsight. To give some context after Conor Bedard’s phenomenal rookie season it seemed like the team wanted to provide him immediate help for the next campaign. The problem was none of the major prospects the Blackhawks had in their system were ready for the NHL. While Korchinski was also an NHLer during the 2023-2024 season it was clear that he would be starting the next season in Rockford after a poor rookie campaign where he struggled mightily defensively and only put up 15P in 76GP that season. I feel like it’s worth pointing out that one of the main reasons Korchinski made the Hawks to begin with is that the team felt he was too good to go back to the WHL, and also Korchinski’s father passed away in December during that season. Losing a parent as a young man is always hard, but I imagine it’s even harder for someone trying to find their feet in the NHL, especially when the team around him is struggling so much.
Frank Nazar also signed his ELC towards the end of the 2023-2024 season where he played 3 games and even scored his first career goal. While he showed promise the team was in no hurry to repeat the mistake they made with Korchinski and decided to start him in the AHL for the 2024-2025 season. With no immediate help coming up through the pipeline the Blackhawks turned to free agency signing most notably Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi, as well as veterans Patrick Maroon, Craig Smith, Alec Martinez, Tj Brodie, and a goaltender Laurent Brossoit. This free agency class has been a mixed bag to say the least. Tj Brodie was a disaster on ice and was bought out the following offseason, Laurent Brossoit still hasn’t played a game for the Blackhawks and at this point and it doesn’t seem like he ever will. Smith, Martinez, and Maroon did provide good leadership off the ice but their actual impact on games was limited, which you should expect from three players with a combined age of 108. Martinez and Maroon both retired as Blackhawks at the end of the season and Smith was dealt to the Red WIngs on March 7th, 2025 he is currently a free agent. While none of those 5 players worked out or were at best mediocre signings they won’t really affect the Blackhawks future in any meaningful way. Three of them are out of the NHL, Brodie’s buyout will be over after the 2026-2027 season, and Brossoit’s contract is over after this season. The more important players to talk about are Bertuzzi and Teravainen. Bertuzzi signed a 4 year $22 million contract and Teuvo signed a 3 year $16.2 million contract.
Both players had rocky patches during the 2024-2025 season but overall, I think the Blackhawks were satisfied with both players’ performances. Bertuzzi had 23G and 46P in 82GP last season and Teuvo had 15G and 58P also in 82GP. With both of these players having hot starts to the 2025-2026 season and with the salary cap rising rapidly I think it’s fair to say that both of these contracts should be considered hits!
Now that we’ve talked about free agency, let’s move onto the 2024 entry draft. The Blackhawks selected three players during the first round, 2nd overall Artyom Levshunov, 18th overall Sacha Boisvert, and 27th overall Marek Vanacker. Other players from this class that are worth mentioning are AJ Spellacy a former two sport athlete who I believe can turn into a good bottom six energy player in the future, John Mustard a speedy winger with size and a good shot who’s currently PPG during his sophomore season at Providence, and Jack Pridham who has looked solid during his limited time with the Kitchner Rangers of the OHL. I think it’s fair to say that the Levshunov pick is probably the most controversial pick Davidson has made up to this point, mostly because of the fact that it meant passing on Ivan Demidov. He has had a weird start to his pro career, he missed his rookie season training camp due to injury, he performed ok as an 18 year old rookie in Rockford 52GP 5G 22P but he was far from spectacular most nights, but then he played 18 games for the Blackhawks to end the season and looked ok in those games as well. All in all his rookie season was a mixed bag but he did show promise, he needs to work on his understanding of the game and what is going on around him. If he can improve in that area I have little doubt that he can be a top pair defenseman in the NHL.
Sacha Boisvert was the Blackhawks next pick in this draft and I cannot wait for him to be a Blackhawk. He had a very strong freshman season on an average NDSU team and then transferred to BU for his sophomore season. He started PPG at BU but unfortunately has picked up an injury that has seen him miss the last few games. Still with a heavy shot, a big frame, and good passing ability I think Boisvert will be a key player going forward for the Blackhawks once he decides to sign his ELC. Lastly, we have Marek Vanacker who despite missing the first 23 games of his D+1 season still played well. Vanacker is off to a phenomenal start in his D+2 season he has 11G in 11GP and is currently on pace for a 108-point season in his final year in the OHL, I expect that he’ll probably be on Rockford’s first line next season.
The 2024-2025 season was rough for the players, staff, and fans of the team. Head coach Luke Richardson was fired on December 5th, 2024 after an 8-16-2 start. During his time as Blackhawks head coach the team had a combined record of 57-118-15. While I think it is unfair to judge the head coach of a rebuilding team solely on their record, especially a team that was actively tearing down the roster, I do think this firing was justified due to the fact that a lot of the young players on the roster either stagnated or got worse during his tenure. For example Lukas Reichel went from a highly touted prospect who had two great seasons in Rockford 111GP 41G 108P and then had 15P in 23GP in the NHL during the 2022-2023 season struggled to get in the lineup the next season. He was recently traded to the Canucks for a 4th round pick. That’s not to say that every young player struggled under him, Alex Vlasic is someone who has become a core part of the Blackhawks future and his career took off under Richardson. I think at the end of the day it was a matter of fit, I believe in a few years Luke will get another chance to be a head coach and I wish him the best of luck.
The last major event of the 2024-2025 season was the Spencer Knight trade. The Blackhawks traded disgruntled defenseman Seth Jones and a 2026 4th round pick to the Florida Panthers for Spencer Knight and 2026 first round pick. This deal is looking like a win win for both teams, obviously the Panthers repeated as Stanley Cup Champions and Seth was a key contributor to their success, the Blackhawks meanwhile acquired their goalie of the future who is already playing great for the team and that 1st round pick may prove to be more valuable than initially thought with Florida’s current injury crises.
That takes us to the current day, it’s a little bit too soon to start judging the 2025 draft class since we’re only a month into the season although I will say that Frondell, Nestrasil, and Behm have been the standouts so far. The NHL team also looks much improved this season! I believe it’s due to a combination of things, namely the overall level of talent on the team improving, a mostly new coaching staff led by Jeff Blashill, and the amount of effort and desire also dramatically increasing on a nightly basis. At the time of writing both Frank Nazar and Connor Bedard are currently point per game players, Spencer Knight has a 930SV%, and the team has a record of 5-3-2. Is this level of play sustainable for the whole season? Probably not, but for the first time in years the Hawks aren’t just watchable, they’re enjoyable! I can see this group seriously challenging for a playoff spot next season.