Chicago Blackhawks: Are the new guys making an impact?

The Chicago Blackhawks season has been pretty interesting to watch thus far.

With 11 games behind them, the Blackhawks have put up a record of 3-4-4. The team has 10 points, is 6th in their division, and 22nd place league-wide. All of that is worth noting because it suggests how the season will end, but that’s not what this year is about.

This shortened season is about player development, and the Chicago Blackhawks actually appear to be doing fairly well in that department. There have been a bunch of new faces playing their first NHL games this year, as well as some seasoned veterans that only recently joined Chicago, and the season isn’t even a quarter of the way complete. This bodes well for the next couple of years as the team looks to take strides towards being a contender again.

The talk of the team right now has mostly been focused on the play of Kevin Lankinen, and rightfully so.  He’s been far, far better than anyone would have predicted. In fact, he’s been so good that of the last six games, all of them have been one-goal games, except for one that was a 3-1 victory over Columbus.

Additionally, the team has been able to force overtime multiple times and is grinding out points in the standings. No matter what, this group has come to play. As a fan, that’s made watching the games much more enjoyable. Even if they’re losing, they’re making it interesting. This is all positive, but what about some of the other players that have stepped in?