The Chicago Blackhawks have a messaging problem regarding this rebuild

No one wants to hear that it is going to be a while before the Chicago Blackhawks make the playoffs again.

Not when Connor Bedard is on the team and being promoted as the game's next great superstar.

Here is the thing, Bedard can only do so much and a lot of the supporting cast that is going to help him bring glory back to the franchise is still nowhere close to making meaningful contributions at the NHL level.

It is hard to sell patience in game where half the teams make the playoffs, but that is what the Hawks should be doing.

Even when they try, they are terrible at it.

Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson set up himself for criticism by making a terrible miscalculation at where the team was in the rebuild process by saying the standards should be raised this season.

Unless he was going to spend all the available salary cap space last offseason, significantly moving up the standings was just not going to happen when all he did was sign Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teräväinen.

Instead, he should have kept banging the drum for all the players that are eventually coming. It may set up immense expectations, but hockey rebuilds take time. A lot of time.

Dynasties do not immediately happen, like some Hawks fans think happened last decade.

Although, a good portion of the fan base can be excused for checking out at the turn of the century with how ownership alienated everyone. Plus, the team was bad, really bad.

Just like it is right now.

However, as the core of last decade's dynasty was getting close to the NHL, the Blackhawks made sure you knew about them.

This go around; the franchise is doing a terrible job. You have a portion of the fan base calling for Kyle Davidson's job when you still cannot judge his capabilities as a GM because most of his draft picks are not in the NHL.

There is a heck of lot of promise, but it feels like not many people know about it.

Maybe they just do not care because the Hawks have been doing a lot of losing since the 2017-18 season started.

Plus, the Hawks keep the message of patience and hope of better days confusing when they do things like scratching rookies Coltan Dach and Nolan Allan.

The excitement about tonight's game was nine players under the age of 23 and likely to be key pieces of the next Hawks' playoff team were supposed to skate.

Instead, Pat Maroon, Alec Martinez, and T.J. Brodie are going to get ice time. The GM is trying to get rid of them because they are taking away ice time from the younger players. Philipp Kurashev is going to get a sweater tonight and his regression has been so astonishing that he is likely to get non-tendered this offseason.

Not saying ice time should be just handed to Dach and Allan, but at the same time, Brodie and Kurashev have been awful this season. There is no need to have them on the ice over getting two rookies precious development time on the ice.

It is hard to be patient with the Blackhawks when they keep touting all the young players they are accumulating and then not play them when they appear ready to contribute at the NHL level. No wonder so many people are not happy with this team these days.