Chicago Blackhawks’ Accomplishments To Watch In 2016-17

Artem Anisimov: 300 points

The second-line center currently sits at 234 career regular-season points. It’s going to be difficult for him to reach 300 this season, though. He hit 42 points last season, just short of his career-best 44. Playing with Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin could potentially bring out an even better result than 44 points, but would it be good enough for the 66 points Anisimov needs for this milestone?

Brian Campbell: 500 regular-season points, 50 playoff points

The defenseman should reach the former task with ease this season. Campbell boasts 487 career points and will take top-four minutes on the blue line for Chicago. He’ll be used as a puck-moving back-end player who can contribute on offense, so 13 points doesn’t seem at all far-fetched (he had 31 last season).

As for the 50 playoff points, that would obviously depend on how far the Blackhawks go in the postseason should they make it there. Campbell is at 44 points for his postseason career, and while playoff points can be tougher to come by, a longer run would almost guarantee he reaches this plateau as well.

Corey Crawford: 200 regular-season wins, 50 playoff wins

Like Campbell, the Blackhawks’ starting goaltender is close to a pair of milestones, one each in the regular season and postseason. He’s a little further from the former, as Crow currently sits at 182 career wins. However, he’s posted 32 or more victories each of the last three seasons, including a career-best 35 last season. Eighteen more triumphs is pretty easily achievable.

More from Analysis

• Blackhawks: Key Takeaways from 3-2 win over the Blues
• Blackhawks: Grading Connor Murphy and a position comparison
• Blackhawks: Shuffling the lines to try and spark offense at 5 on 5
• These Lineup Changes could Solve the Blackhawks’ Scoring Problem
• Chicago Blackhawks Winning- Temper Those Expectations

Even easier would be the two postseason wins Crow needs to reach 50. As long as the Blackhawks get to the postseason and aren’t in utter shambles upon arriving, Crow will hit that mark this season as well.

Scott Darling: 1,500 saves

Life as a backup goaltender isn’t always easy, but Darling has handled it with aplomb the last two years. He’s had some great moments as well — the 2015 postseason series against Nashville, doing a nice job filling in last season when Crow was hurt. He needs another 391 saves to reach 1,500 for his career, and after achieving 784 last season, this seems like a reasonable goal.

Andrew Desjardins: 50 assists

Desi is not well-known as any sort of scorer. He’s a grinder who has no problem playing the defensive forward role. But he also showed flashes of a scoring touch last season, potting a career-best eight goals. He’s currently 10 assists shy of 50, and he’s surpassed that mark twice in a season in his career. He only had five helpers last season, but depending on how he’s utilized by Chicago this season, 10 assists is possible.

Next: Gustafsson Through Keith