3 reasons the Blackhawks are still worth watching this season

You can argue that the Blackhawks won’t even finish the 2023-24 season with 55 points, but that’s okay. General manager Kyle Davidson has this team in a full rebuild, and he will have quite a bit of cap space for the upcoming offseason, perhaps surprising us with a big signing or two, even if it may be more realistic for the team to make under-the-radar additions this summer. 

While the on-ice play hasn’t been exciting for the most part and outright tough to watch on many occasions, young teams like the Blackhawks can be entertaining during the last stages of the regular season. For one, they get to play spoiler and perhaps surprise fans with an unprecedented upset or two, which could serve as confidence boosters. 

And for another, ultra-talented youngsters like Connor Bedard will put on a show almost every night. Although he’s only appeared in 54 games this season through March 17th, Bedard still leads the Blackhawks with 53 points and 21 goals, adjusted for 80 points and 32 goals across 82 games had he stayed healthy all year. 

Connor Bedard is one major reason to keep watching the Blackhawks

Bedard keeps getting better, something we have seen since he returned from a jaw injury. He has 20 points in his first 15 games back in action, with six goals and 14 assists, plus a 12.5 shooting percentage. Broken down, Bedard has 1.33 points per game in that span, and just to have some fun, let’s adjust that number to 82 games, which equals 109 points when rounded to the nearest whole number. 

Even if you disagree with the three primary reasons on this list - one of which will also include a cluster of other young players - Bedard’s presence alone should make each game for the final month of the season worth watching. But in case you want a few more reasons to watch this exciting team play, keep on reading.