How to put the Blackhawks in a spot to succeed minus Bedard & Nazar

The Chicago Blackhawks' season has taken a turn for the worse over the last few games. Within a span of seven days, they lost both Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar to injury. Bedard’s shoulder injury has him out at least until January, while Nazar will be out for at least four weeks, according to head coach Jeff Blashill.

Not only does this leave the Blackhawks without their top two centers, but also their best two offensive players. This team was struggling to produce offense before they both went down, so the next few weeks are going to be quite a challenge. So, how do the Blackhawks survive without their young dynamic duo?

Announce Your Presence with Authority

This is starting to feel like January of the 2023-24 season, when Bedard was out with a broken jaw and the Blackhawks couldn’t seem to keep anyone healthy. This isn’t nearly as hopeless a situation as that was. They won’t need to head to the scrapheap to bring in guys like Rem Pitlick, Zach Sanford, or Jaycob Megna. They have plenty of capable young players who can use the next few weeks as a chance to cement themselves as NHL players.

That starts with Oliver Moore, Ryan Greene, and Nick Lardis. Saturday’s game against the Ottawa Senators proved the Blackhawks can still produce offense as they scored four goals after Nazar left the game. Greene contributed two assists for his first multi-point NHL game, while Lardis scored his first goal.

Blashill started these three off together on a line, but split them up in Ottawa. Greene has proven he can play with top-line talent. He has the hands and vision to make plays in the offensive zone. Putting him between Tyler Bertuzzi and Andre Burakovsky makes sense. He sees and thinks the game well and has already played with Burakovsky.

Lardis needs to be on a line with someone who can get him the puck. He’s a pure shooter who can find the scoring areas on the ice. Playing with Sam Lafferty and Colton Dach long-term isn't going to give him those chances. Also, playing him just over eight minutes going forward is criminal. He needs to be on a top-six line, playing top-six minutes. His ideal linemates right now are Teuvo Teravainen and Ryan Donato. Teravainen can get him the puck from anywhere on the ice, while Donato will do the dirty work along the boards and in front of the net.

As for Moore, we’ve marveled at his speed and how he can weaponize it. However, he hasn’t turned it into much production, with three goals and nine points in 23 games. Now is his time to start finding ways to finish plays. I like the fit with Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev. It gives him the two best defensive forwards on the team to take pressure off of him without the puck, and lets him focus on getting the puck up the ice to create scoring chances.

Time to Earn Your Game Checks

All the pressure is not on the young forwards to pick up the slack. That is too much to ask of this trio. There are plenty of veterans on this roster who are getting paid handsomely to provide scoring. They have to step it up.

This starts with Donato, Teravainen, Burakovsky, and Tyler Bertuzzi. This foursome has all produced at times this season, but lately, they aren’t collectively holding up their end of the bargain. We all embraced the youth movement and applauded the youngsters for taking over the room. These veterans need to take control right now and carry the Blackhawks on their backs until Bedard and Nazar return. It’s your team, lead them.

Getting Nick Foligno back in the next couple of games will help. While his sexy stats like goals and assists don’t jump off the page, he brings a lot to the table that this team is missing. First and foremost, he’s a center. He will play responsible two-way hockey and can be trusted to win important faceoffs. He will do the little things that don’t don show up on the stats sheet, but are essential to winning hockey games.

Time for 7-11 to Reopen

Some of you may not want to hear this, but the seven-defensemen, 11-forward system needs to return while Bedard and Nazar are out. And not with the seven blueliners currently on the roster. This is the perfect time to recall Kevin Korchinski and give him an extended run in Chicago.

This team needs to create offense, and Korchinski is the organization's best offensive defenseman. He has two goals and is second on the Rockford IceHogs with 14 assists. He’s not shooting as much as I’d like, with 29 shots in 27 games, but he’s setting up his teammates and is getting the puck through the neutral zone quickly.

Now is the best time to see if Korchinski has progressed enough to remain in the NHL. With seven defensemen, Blashill can ease him into the action while picking and choosing the best spots for him. He’ll bring more to the table than seven minutes of Lafferty or Dominic Toninato up front. Wins are going to be hard to come by, and frankly, don’t matter right now. Finding out if some of your prospects can handle big minutes in the NHL is more important than results at this point.

The Ideal Lineup

We’ll find out Monday how Blashill decides to set his lineup for Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. If I were in charge, and thank the hockey gods I’m not, this is how I’d set my roster when Foligno is available.

Bertuzzi-Greene-Burakovsky
Teravainen-Donato-Lardis
Moore-Dickinson-Mikheyev
Dach-Foligno

Vlasic-Crevier
Grezelcyk-Levshunov
Kaiser-Korchinski
Murphy