Ranking the Blackhawks forwards in the 2024-25 season from worst to first

12 - Andreas Athanasiou

Andreas Athanasiou is someone I’m excited to see in 2024-25, as he enjoyed a promising 2022-23 season with 20 goals and 40 points in 81 appearances. If he managed to follow that success up last season, he’d be ranked higher. But injuries and lack of production in 2023-24 put him a little too far down the list. 

11 - Craig Smith

Craig Smith has likely seen better days throughout a successful career that predominantly came in Nashville, so at this stage, he’s nothing more than a strong veteran presence. It’s a role he’s played well in multiple stops since he joined the Boston Bruins in the 2020-21 season, and one in which he will also serve the Blackhawks well. 

10 - Pat Maroon

Pat Maroon is another forward who will find himself in a mentorship role, and one with plenty of success throughout a career as primarily a role player. He’s an edgy winger who will stand up for the Blackhawks younger stars in 2024-25, and if he stays in that role, he’s doing his job. 

9 - Lukas Reichel

Lukas Reichel is one player I wanted to rank higher, but until he starts enjoying some success on the ice, he’s rising no higher than a middle-of-the-pack ranking. But he’s young and there aren’t many on the big club with more potential, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he broke out in 2024-25. 

8 - Ryan Donato

Ryan Donato will never be a big-time scorer in this league, and there’s a good chance younger players will eventually force him out of the lineup. But until then, he’ll play his role well as a bottom-six lower-liner as a defense-first forward who can put up between 12 and 14 goals in a season. 

7 - Ilya Mikheyev

I wouldn’t be surprised if Ilya Mikheyev becomes a depth scoring option this season, something that’s more than possible with this Blackhawks team despite the uptick in talent. He’s rarely played for a bad team throughout his career, and still, Mikheyev has put up a respectable amount of points and goals - 45 of the latter over the past three seasons.