Blackhawks Preseason Predictions; a half-season Retrospective

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.