Blackhawks Preseason Predictions; a half-season Retrospective

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Chicago Blackhawks Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

The Chicago Blackhawks season is about halfway done, and they are surprising the hockey world by holding down a playoff spot while supposedly rebuilding.

Schadenfreude is always some fun, so let’s take a look at some preseason predictions I’ve made for the Blackhawks, and how they’re holding up here at the halfway mark of the season. Some of these will stack up better than others. Obviously, a prediction like who wins the Stanley Cup would be a little premature for an article like this so we can safely skip that one.

Who will be the Blackhawks’ leading scorer?

What I said in January: The Blackhawks leading point scorer should be no surprise to anyone, Patrick Kane. Kane’s an absolute superstar, a Hockey Hall of Fame first-ballot lock.

My preseason pick of Patrick Kane is looking like he’s still the runaway leader here, but Alex DeBrincat’s season is nothing to be overlooked. If he hadn’t missed a week to Covid he could be challenging Kane for that top spot, he’s top 5 in goals scored.

But this wasn’t a hard choice, Kane’s the best American-born hockey player of all time after all. He is necessarily shouldering a heavy offensive workload for these Blackhawks. An easy answer here.

The Blackhawks starting goaltender will be…?

What I said: I feel pretty confident that Subban will get the first look in the net, but by the end of the season I think Delia asserts himself and takes over the net. … You have to be able to bounce back from a blown save or a bad night…

How it’s going: Not according to my prediction, at all. Collin Delia hasn’t seen an NHL game in over a month, and when he was in he was shaky at best. Being sent down for a conditioning stint and not being any better in the AHL isn’t helping his case to take the backup job, either. The starting job is Kevin Lankinen’s to lose for sure. I still stand by the original idea that he has the mental side, but Delia needs to perform.

Chicago Blackhawks, Patrick Kane #88, Alex DeBrincat #12, Pius Suter #24 Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports /

The Blackhawk’s record will be…?

What I said: The Blackhawks will be bad. I think we all can feel alright with saying that. … We have to play Carolina, Dallas, and Tampa a combined 24 times. I really don’t see this team faring much better than 22-26-8.

How it’s going: Not according to what I thought, at least at this pace. The Blackhawks are tearing it up and hanging with the teams they have no business hanging with. They took three points from Tampa and took all four against Dallas before this series. They’re beating the teams they should beat in Detroit and Nashville.

Columbus could bounce back but they’re falling fast and are plagued with their own issues. The real test for the Hawks is this March schedule, which they go back to mostly playing the top-end teams in the division after having those games spread out in February and January.

Who will be the Blackhawks breakout star?

What I said: I believe the Blackhawks breakout star this season will be Ian Mitchell. From everything we’ve seen in training camp and his college tape, I think Mitchell could be everything we hoped to see out of him sooner rather than later.

How it’s going: I mean, Mitchell is certainly one of the breakout players, but the real story for Chicago is that they seem to have found multiple pieces that weren’t supposed to be quite there in Pius Suter, Philipp Kurashev, Lankinen, and yes, Ian Mitchell.

Adam Boqvist is taking strides and becoming a better player right before our eyes. Nicolas Beaudin went from just a guy to someone who could be an important part of the top 4 and power play.

Even Malcolm Subban has been a solid backup, and DeBrincat is announcing himself as the next Blackhawks all-star if you’d like to count that from the fourth-year pro. So, the prediction is still kind of alive, but Lankinen is the true star here. So, we’ll score ourselves a half point because Mitchell is just one of a few breakout stars.

Kevin Lankinen #32, Chicago Blackhawks (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

The top four teams of the division will be…?

What I said: The Discover* Central Division’s top three teams will be, in this order; the Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars. The fourth team is where it gets more interesting… I think Florida is the one that squeaks in.

How it’s going: Well, aside from Chicago playing better than we had any idea they were capable of, not bad. The order’s off, but we’re hitting three of four so far as to who’s in. I still think Dallas could find that extra gear and squeak in when it counts, but that’s why we play the games because so far they haven’t.

Florida is way better than expected, even though I had them in I did not have them being this dominant, but that’s led by Driedger going on a bender more than Bobrovsky having a return, even though his play and record have improved.

Q is, of course, a major help to the young team. Chicago being in a solid playoff spot at the moment though is a very nice surprise, watching a team win tends to be way more fun than cheering for a draft pick. Since we went three of four on the playoff teams but not the order, I think another half-point is fair.

Projecting Season-Ending Point Totals For Every Blackhawks Player

Well, as far as predictions go, we’re shooting pretty low here with two points in a possible six. As far as the season goes though, it’s been great so far. Maybe the Blackhawks truly do create that separation and hold down their current playoff spot, the way they’ve played certainly shows they have the ability. Maybe they don’t and wind up without a top 10 pick. The Blackhawks are playing with house money, might as well go for the ride. This season is fun, something we had no idea was coming.

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