Blackhawks Trends: Bedard & Burakovsky building chemistry, Slaggert yet to find his game

The Chicago Blackhawks have played three times since our last update on the team's trends. They split those games, going 1-1-1. While none of the games were bad, per se, several areas need improvement. The Blackhawks are an improving team on the rise, but they still have so much to learn to take the next step into postseason contention.

The Week That Was

Tuesday: 7-3 vs Ottawa Senators (Connor Bedard x3, Colton Dach, Louis Crevier, Ryan Donato, Frank Nazar)
Thursday: 3-6 @ Winnipeg Jets (Teuvo Teravainen, Alex Vlasic, Andre Burakovsky)
Saturday: 2-3 (OT) @ Edmonton Oilers (Tyler Bertuzzi, Andre Burakovsky)

The Week Ahead

Monday: @ Seattle Kraken 9 pm
Wednesday: @ Vancouver Canucks 9 pm
Friday: @ Calgary Flames 8 pm
Sunday: @ Detroit Red Wings 12 pm

Trending Up: Connor Bedard, Andre Burakovsky, Wyatt Kaiser

• Many were hoping this would be the season when we see Connor Bedard make the leap from being a very good player to a superstar. Through the first 12 games of the season, that appears to be happening. Bedard started his week with his first career hat trick against the Senators, where he scored three goals three different ways. He picked up assists in Winnipeg and Edmonton to extend his point streak to four games and stay above a point-per-game average. He even neutralized Connor McDavid at 5-on-5, mainly because the Blackhawks had the puck more when they were on the ice together. He’s currently tied with Ryan Donato for the team lead in goals, leads in assists, points, shots on goal, and scoring chances. Even his faceoff percentage has improved to 43.3, which isn’t great, but it’s far better than what we saw in his first two seasons.

• Andre Burakovsky is turning out to be a sneaky good acquisition by general manager Kyle Davidson. The veteran forward is healthy for the first time in two years, and it's showing on the ice. He’s currently riding a three-game point streak. He’s got goals in back-to-back games, including a Goal of the Year candidate against the Jets. He has also helped the top power-play unit. Since he was added to the group against the Senators, the Blackhawks have gone 2-for-5 on the power play with Burakovsky assisting on both goals. His speed and confidence through the neutral zone are evident, and he’s built chemistry with Bedard, as they have paired for some highlight-reel goals.

• Wyatt Kaiser continues to improve with every shift. He’s developed so well over the past two seasons that he is now the most consistent defender in the Blackhawks’ young corps. He’s clearly earned head coach Jeff Blashill’s trust as he leads the team in 5-on-5 ice time. He’s been facing a lot of opponents’ top-six, but he has excelled. He’s been on the ice for 10 5-on-5 goals while only allowing seven. Kaiser is also starting to make plays like this without getting a penalty regularly.

Trending Down: Landon Slaggert, Jason Dickinson, Penalty Kill

• Landon Slaggert’s second full professional season has not gotten off to the best of starts. An injury caused him to miss most of training camp and the first six games of the season. With a new coaching staff and new systems to learn, that put the youngster in a hole to start the year. In the five games he’s played, he’s averaging less than 10 minutes of ice. He has the speed, size, and tenacity to be a good bottom-six defensive forward, but he hasn’t quite found his game this season. He was scratched against the Senators, and according to Blashill, he’s an option to come out of the lineup at any time.

• When Jason Dickinson has been in the lineup, he’s been good. He’s been leading the defensive shutdown line, which has spent a lot of time playing offense this year. Sure, he had a bad turnover in Winnipeg that led directly to a goal, but he’s made far more plays to prevent goals this season. However, staying on the ice has been the issue. He suffered a shoulder injury in the second game of the season against the Boston Bruins, and it continues to cause him problems. He missed the home opener before rertuning a game later. However, he aggravated the injury against Vancouver, causing him to miss two more games. He hurt it again against the Jets and hasn’t been on the ice since. Dickinson is an important part of this team, but he needs to be healthy. Hopefully, this time around, he’ll be shut down until he’s back to 100%, so when he returns, it will be for good.

• The week started well for the penalty kill, as they went a perfect 4-for-4 against the Senators. However, they only killed off three of the six penalties they faced in the first two games of the road trip. They allowed goals to the Oilers in each of their first two power-play opportunities, and that was the difference in the game. They remain in the top half of the league, currently ranked 13th with an 82.0% success rate. But they have struggled to kill penalties away from the United Center. Their 73.7% kill rate on the road is 23rd in the NHL. With four games left on this trip, you’d like to see better shorthanded results.