Philipp Kurashev’s resurgence is a reminder of what the Blackhawks lost

Former Chicago Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev won Third Star of the Week in the NHL, following a stellar four games that saw him put up four goals and seven points. It's showing everyone in the NHL universe that maybe Kurashev, who has nine points and five goals in 11 games this season, just struggled through an awful year in Chicago during the 2024-25 campaign.

If you remember it right, Kurashev finished 2024-25 with 14 points and seven goals in 51 contests, averaging 13:43 per game. That came after he enjoyed a 54-point, 18-goal outburst in 2023-24 when it looked like he would be a full-time top-six player in the Windy City.

While the jury is still out on whether Kurashev will enjoy a bounce-back season, the signs are slowly pointing toward it being the case. One reason is that the Sharks have proven to be no pushover. Heading into Monday night, they were ninth in the league in scoring with 42 goals, and their main problem has been on defense, evidenced by the 52 goals they have allowed so far.

Chicago Blackhawks could have missed an opportunity with Philipp Kurashev

Kurashev showed more than a few flashes of brilliance in 2023-24, but the Blackhawks as a unit were a team in transition, and that continued into 2024-25. It led to the entire team underperforming to the extent that Connor Bedard even struggled through a goal-scoring drought. Still, Kurashev couldn't recover, and it was only a matter of time before he fell out of favor with the Hawks.

When Chicago opted not to re-sign Kurashev, he landed with the Sharks and made his presence known early with a goal in his first game in San Jose. That was his only point until Oct. 26, as Kurashev and the Sharks put up just 11 goals over their next five games before finding their rhythm offensively and have since transformed into one of the NHL's more high-octane teams as of late.

Kurashev has been an integral part of that surge, and if he keeps it up, you can't help but wonder whether the Blackhawks lost out on this. Kurashev signed on for a bargain deal at $1.2 million, and considering how much more they improved this season, Kurashev could have been an integral part in the lineup.

Missing an opportunity on Kurashev isn't the end of the world for the Blackhawks

The good news is that the Blackhawks are faring well without Kurashev, even if he's enjoying a resurgence with Macklin Celebrini. The Hawks are 5-5-3 and have brewing stars in Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Alex Vlasic, Artyom Levshunov, and Spencer Knight.

Keeping Kurashev around, even if he continues his current trajectory all season, would have been great and a definite missed opportunity. However, it's not one of those "Why can't he or anyone else pan out here and play well elsewhere" moments.

It would be one thing if the Blackhawks still looked like they were in early-season contention for Gavin McKenna while the Sharks looked like a team trending north. Right now, the Hawks are one rung above the Sharks, and it's not like Kurashev is a centerpiece to the puzzle like Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and Michael Misa.

Is there a chance Kurashev remains consistent and serves as a painful reminder of what the Hawks let walk in the coming seasons? Absolutely. But the Hawks also have a solid team that could at least hang around the playoff picture this season, and that means they don't need to look over at the Sharks' lineup and wonder "Why didn't we keep Kurashev?"