3 players that should be leaving the Chicago Blackhawks in the offseason

The Chicago Blackhawks must re-sign Ryan Donato, figure out what they want to do with Arvid Soderblom, and how long they want to commit to Wyatt Kaiser.

Otherwise, the rest of their internal roster decisions should not be that hard.

Maybe someone should check to see if Laurent Brossoit actually exists. At this point, he feels like some sort of mythical figure that will never suit up in goal for the Blackhawks after what was supposed to be a minor surgical procedure on his knee that ended up keeping him out all season.

After doing all of that, general manager Kyle Davidson does have to focus on adding help through free agency, trades, and the draft. He will also need to hire a head coach.

Outside of that, he has some easy decisions on the rest of the Blackhawks' own free agents after addressing Donato's pending unrestricted free agency and Soderblom's and Kaiser's restricted free agency.

Other than maybe bringing back Louis Crevier for some defensive depth, there is no reason to bring the rest of the Blackhawks pending free agents back.

Also, Davidson should seriously consider buying out a veteran blueliner.

That means the Blackhawks should have three players who are for sure not returning next season.

Philipp Kurashev

He was a major disappointment after having a 54-point season in 2023-24. He regressed so significantly that he scored just seven goals and had seven assists.

He spent a good chunk of the season being a healthy scratch. There is no reason to tender him a contract even if he is still 25 since the Blackhawks have plenty of exciting forward prospects who can easily replace him.

Andreas Athanasiou

He technically was already let go once by this franchise this season. Athanasiou was placed on waivers after a terrible start to the season. When he went unclaimed, he was assigned to Rockford.

The veteran forward did briefly return in March, but otherwise, he did not provide much of anything to the NHL club like he did in 2022-23 when he had 40 points.

Injuries derailed his 2023-24 season, and after giving no production this season, it makes it easy for the Hawks to wish him the best in his future endeavors.

T.J. Broadie

You would be forgiven if you forgot he was still on the active roster. He last played on March 1. The team decided to play the baby blueliners after that, and he was never heard from again.

Broadie was terrible this season. There is no way to put it nicely.

Teams seemed to score at will with him on the ice. Here is the toughest part, he is signed through next season.

Clearly, he will go down as one of Davidson's worst free agent signings. Now all that is left is to buy out his final year and move on.