If this is how good the Blackhawks "can and will be" it is not good enough

The Blackhawks hoped to show the fans "how good we can be, and how good we will be," according to head coach Jeff Blashill, via Chicago Sun-Times' Ben Pope. If putting Frank Nazar in forward-line purgatory and pairing Kevin Korchinski with Sam Lafferty on the third pairing is part of this vision, I have no idea how it will encourage disgruntled Blackhawks fans.

The last thirteen games have not been even close to the Blackhawks' potential.

So far, the only bright spot in the final stretch of the 2025-26 season is the performance of Anton Frondell, who has been the player the Blackhawks expected him to be. He has nine points in 10 games thus far, and he shows no signs of slowing down. He is a true elite prospect who will do wonders for this team down the line. Perhaps the coaching staff's experimentation will place Connor Bedard on his line with Tyler Bertuzzi or maybe Nick Lardis. A fan can hope.

Korchinski, despite a decent showing the other game, completely laid an egg this time around. He was on the ice for four of the five goals against, and two of those did not leave a good taste in anyone's mouth. He lost a position battle in front of the net against Jimmy Snuggerud for the first goal, and skated BACKWARDS while the Blues' Alexey Toropchenko skated right past him for a breakaway backhander. However, having Lafferty on the other side surely didn't help in any sense, so I can't place all the blame on him.

Someone tell me why (don't you dare) Blashill decided to say on Wednesday, "We will see just how good this team can be," only to decide to experiment for the rest of the season? All we've seen is a small, fragile, unsure roster with an average age of 26.4 years. Only one line is consistently playing well. They play with speed, but don't play the body at all. If this team made the playoffs, imagine how many guys would be down and out with injuries after game two?

Clearly, just based on injury troubles, this is not a team built for playoff hockey, and things should be done to acquire pieces that fit the mold of north-south, "power" hockey that the Stanley Cup playoffs have. Blashill said this is due to the fatigue of the season, but how can fans expect the team to do well and go deep into the playoffs when they are already fragile and injury-prone at game 82? The 2015 Stanley Cup team had to play 82 regular-season games, plus 23 grueling, physical playoff games, including a 7-game marathon against the Anaheim Ducks right after. And I will argue that the league has gotten even more physical since that Anaheim series.

There are many holes in this team; they can't seem to score, and the defense has trouble with the first pass out of the zone. The goaltending can't always bail them out, and the tandem has allowed 12 goals in the last two games. The Carolina Hurricanes laughed at the breakout play setup the Blackhawks are working on and used their forecheck perfectly. Blashill, so far, looks like a head coach who is trying too many things at once and not giving it enough time to be fully incorporated into the players' systems. Add this to a young roster, and you're bound to have results like they have had the last thirteen games.

At the beginning of the year, the Blackhawks were to copy the Florida Panthers on the forecheck: Speed, pressure, and physical. This was great and one of the reasons for their fast start; the others were Connor Bedard and Spencer Knight. If Blashill has a system he wants to incorporate, then leave it as is and let the guys learn and master it. This is not "as good as the Blackhawks can be," they can be a LOT better, and this starts with the coaching staff.

This team can play with the best in the league when they are on their A-game. We have all witnessed what they are capable of, but this rarely seems to come around. They shy away from physical play when there is a 6'8" right-handed defenseman in Louis Crevier who would rather attempt a Michigan than hit the opposition intentionally. The opposition rarely leaves a game tired and relieved that they don't have to play the Blackhawks again for a while. Crevier doesn't make the opposition fear him like players would fear Zdeno Chara due to his lack of physicality. He's a solid defenseman, but he needs to use his size more, same with Alex Vlasic.

I would rather see this team win, of course; however, I would also be satisfied with a loss where the team played well and played a proper system. I wouldn't care that they lost; it would be how they lost. The Blackhawks don't play a consistent game, nor do they seem to have a consistent vision of what they want to accomplish. The coaching staff does not make the game simple for the team of guys under 22, where they should be teaching them how to play their role, not just one archetype. They should have picked the way they wanted to play and stuck to it rather than changing the system every two weeks. It's hard to be consistent when your system and structure are always changing.

This is why I am frustrated.