Inside the Numbers: The Chicago Blackhawks during the Connor Bedard Era

The Chicago Blackhawks have gone through some high-profile eras throughout their history, whether it was the first few Stanley Cup titles, the Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull era, the Denis Savard years, the time Chris Chelios and Ed Belfour shared the ice, or when Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane brought home three championships. After so much success through the 2010s, Chicago found themselves again at rock bottom, drafting Connor Bedard with the first overall pick at the 2023 Draft.

Since his debut on Oct. 10, 2023, the Blackhawks have avoided finishing last in the NHL standings, but haven't dramatically improved overnight either. They are slightly ahead of the San Jose Sharks in the unenviable distinction of being the league's worst team, but it's not all doom and gloom. In fact, when we look back at the last three years of hockey in Chicago, there are actually some fascinating statistics to read about.

15 fascinating statistics from the Blackhawks' Connor Bedard Era

203 - Since 2020, only two players have scored over 200 points with the Blackhawks: Bedard and Kane, who rejoined the club as a free agent. Considering Kane was the franchise’s leading scorer from 2010 to 2020 with 792 points, it will be fun to watch these two compete for this decade’s title.

148 - On top of leading the Blackhawks with 203 points, Bedard leads the team in penalty minutes with 148. Out of the NHL's top 50 scorers over the past three years, the young Chicago star has collected the 7th most penalty minutes.

98 - In the past three years, there have been 1,196 players to dress for a game in the NHL, with Bedard producing a minus-98 rating, the worst in the league. On the flip side, Nathan MacKinnon has the best rating at plus-117. From 2020 to 2023, former Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones led the NHL with a minus-93 rating.

79.6% - Chicago boosts the 13th-best penalty-killing percentage in the NHL since 2023 at 79.6%, a significant improvement from the 76.4% they had in the three seasons prior, which ranked 26th.

77 - The Blackhawks have won the fewest games in the NHL over the past three seasons, beating out the now-defunct Arizona Coyotes, who won 36 during the 2023-24 season before moving to Utah. From 2020 to 2023, Chicago won 78 games, which ranked 28th.

68 - Growing pains is one way to describe the Bedard-era for the Blackhawks, who rank second in the NHL for most losses by three goals or more with 68, trailing only the Sharks at 77.

57 - Chicago has slowed its roster turnover in the past three seasons, with only 57 skaters (excluding goalies) dressing, down from 69 in the previous three years.

47 - Since Bedard's debut at the start of the 2023-24 season, only 47 players in the league have scored more points than his 203. Unsurprisingly, Connor McDavid leads the way with 395.

27 - Bedard has missed 27 games through three seasons, and with a .93 points-per-game average, he’s missed out on a possible additional 25 points.

19.1% - Despite the young lineup, Chicago has found some success on the power play, clicking at 19.1% over the past three years, which ranks 26th in the league. These totals are slightly better than the 18.9% the club produced from 2020 to 2023.

8 - At the NHL Draft, the Blackhawks have had eight first-round picks in the past three years, with five of them - Bedard, Oliver Moore, Sacha Boisvert, Artyom Levschunov, and Anton Frondell already playing at least one game in the NHL

6 - The Blackhawks have only secured six shutouts in the past three seasons, which ranks 30th in the league, ahead of only Utah (five), San Jose (three), and Anaheim (two). Previously, the club recorded 10 shutouts in the three years leading up to Bedard's debut.

4 - Since the start of the 2023-24 season, the Blackhawks have employed only four goalies: Petr Mrazek, Spencer Knight, Arvid Soderblom, and Drew Commesso. The significance behind the statistic is that from 2020 to 2023, Chicago fans saw 10 goalies between the pipes.

3 - In the past three seasons, only three players have scored more than 30 goals in a single season, including Bedard (30), Tyler Bertuzzi (32), and Ryan Donato (31). That's an increase of two, since Alex DeBrincat was the only Chicago player to score more than 30 from 2020 to 2023, collecting 32- and 41-goal campaigns.

2 - Out of 57 players to play with the Blackhawks, only two have a positive plus/minus total with more than 10 games on their resume, including Joey Anderson (plus-3) and Ilya Mikheyev (plus-6).

1 - During the Bedard era, Chicago has played in only one outdoor game, the 2024 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. Moreover, it marks the franchise’s only outdoor clash this decade, compared to five from 2010 to 2020 and their first back in 2009.

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