Chicago Blackhawks Top Six Rookies Of The Year

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Pius Suter #24, Chicago Blackhawks, Kevin Lankinen #32 (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

As the abnormal 2020-21, NHL regular season comes to end, The Chicago Blackhawks` rookies showed out this season making a reasonable impact on this team.

Although it is quite earlier to determine how successful these rookies will be down the line, something that we can determine is how well they played in their first season in the big leagues.

The following list includes the final stat lines of the top six rookies for the Blackhawks and the best moments from this past season.

6. Ian Mitchell

Despite Mitchell not spending too much time with the Blackhawks compared to his fellow rookie teammates, he made sure to give it his all when he was on the ice.

Mitchell finished his freshmen season with the Blackhawks appearing 39 games, scoring three goals, adding four assists, for a total of seven points.

The 22-year-old finished the season strong recording three points in his last five games, ending his rookie season on a high note.

During Mitchell`s exit interview he said that he plans on working on all aspects of his game if he wants to take the next step in his young hockey career.

I think all aspects of my game, I gotta defned better I gotta be more impactful offensively so ill be working on all aspects on the ice and the gym getting faster stronger.

5. Wyatt Kalynuk

Even though Kalynuk only appeared 21 games for the Blackhawks he made the most of his opportunities, making consistent contributions to his squad.

Kalynuk ended off his first NHL season with the Blackhawks scoring four goals, adding five assists, for a total of nine points.

It is also important to highlight Kalynuk`s performance in the month of April leading all defensemen on the Blackhawks as he finished with four goals, four assists, for a total of eight points in only 13 games.

As the 2020-21 season came to end, Kalynuk says that he needs to continue to do what he has been doing on the defensive end for the Blackhawks.

Just continue to do my thing, continue to try to be better defensively I think something I can continue to get good at, probably always will, but yeah continue to grow and just try to establish myself.

Brandon Hagel #38, Chicago Blackhawks Mandatory Credit: Eileen T. Meslar-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Phillip Kurashev

Kurashev had a solid rookie season spending a ton of time with the Blackhawks and making a significant impact during his time there.

The 21-year-old finished his rookie season scoring eight goals, recording eight assists, for a total of 16 points in 54 games this past season.

Kurashev`s best game came early on in the season on Jan 31 against the Columbus Blue Jackets recording the first multi-point game of his career with a single goal and assist.

Looking back at the 2018 NHL Draft, the Blackhawks found a diamond in the rough in Kurashev as they selected him in the 4th round with the 27th pick (120th overall pick), despite turning out as a first-round draft pick.

3. Brandon Hagel

Hagel played an excellent rookie season with the Blackhawks thanks to his superb playmaking.

The left-winger suited up in 52 games for the Blackhawks scoring nine goals, recording 15 assists, and finishing with 24 points.

Hagel’s most memorable game came against the Nashville Predators on Apr 21, stuffing the stat sheet with one goal and two assists leading the Blackhawks to an overtime win.

To go along with that, Hagel finished the season in the top 10 among all NHL rookies in assists and points.

As Hagel reflects on this past season, during his exit interview he says the next step is to continue to get better and learn from the older guys on this team.

Im just trying to learn and get better and im still learning from these older guys and get a feel for the league, its not an easy league to play in its not an easy league to get away with little things so theres a ton of things i can work on and get better at over the summer and comming into next year.

Kevin Lankinen #32, Chicago Blackhawks (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

2. Pius Suter

At the start of the season for many, including myself, believed that Suter has a legitimate chance of winning rookie of the year as he was extremely effective during the first half of the season.

Suter finished his rookie season scoring 14 goals, recording 13 assists, and finishing with a total of 27 points. It is also important to mention that Suter finished in the top 10 for goals, assists, and points among all NHL rookies.

Not only was this season Suter`s first as a pro, but this season also included his first hattrick of his career which came against the Detroit Red Wings on Jan 24. To go along with that, Suter also recorded a total of four multi-point games this year for the Blackhawks.

1. Kevin Lankinen

Coming in at number one as the best Blackhawks rookie this season is netminder Kevin Lankinen, who had a remarkable first season this year.

Lankinen finished his rookie season with 17 wins, 1,095 saves, two shutouts, and finished with a .909 save percentage.

Among all NHL rookie goalies, Lankinen finished with the most saves and the second-most wins, sitting behind Washington Capitals netminder Vitek Vanecek who finished with 21 wins.

Lankinen`s performance of the year came against the Florida Panthers on Mar 25, shutting out one of the best teams in the Discover Central division making a total of 41 saves leading the Blackhawks to victory.

Despite the shorten season, Lankinen was the primary starting goalie for the Blackhawks appearing in 37 games which is the 6th most starts by a Blackhawks goalie all-time.

Blackhawks Update: Playoffs and more a week into the off-season

Overall, the Blackhawks have a talented young group players ready to play and make a major impact in the coming years and fans should expect this team to be in the playoffs sooner than later.

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