The Blackhawks have to make serious changes, not make excuses

The Chicago Blackhawks are being historically bad this season, even worse than last year (somehow). "Internal analytics" apparently tell us that the Blackhawks are in every game, but actual statistics show they're worse than they were in the "Dollar Bill" era. Yes, you read that right. Even in the age when the team couldn't be found on TV, they were STILL better than this team.

There is no major improvement from any prospects; Roman Kantserov was already a somewhat polished project (as far as young players go) before his arrival, so he doesn't count towards development.

Artyom Levshunov has displayed some nice improvement in his game, but these are the fundamentals, not necessarily additions to his skill set. Frank Nazar can't seem to bury his chances, and the team is snakebitten.

Changes have to be made. No more excuses.

Paul Bissonnette is right. This team has no direction, is soft, has no identity, and is bad in every facet of the game. Spencer Knight can't do much, as it seems almost 50 percent of the chances are 2-on-1, sometimes 3-on-1. Expecting the goalie to always bail out his team for defensive breakdowns is unfair.

Has Knight allowed some soft goals against? Yes, but what goalie doesn't?

Jeff Blashill may have single-handedly ruined this team for the next decade due to his development skills and for forcing square pegs into round holes. Connor Bedard is better defensively, but his offense hasn't improved at all; Sam Rinzel is not the top-four defenseman we expected, with offensive skills for the power play.

This entire young group is not where they need to be, or should be, with the skill they have. That's on Blashill for hindering their growth and not fine-tuning their strengths.

General manager Kyle Davidson should be on the hot seat, too. He has struggled to build a roster capable of making the playoffs or even competing for a wildcard spot. He has given Blashill too much time and has made some mistakes with the overall development of this group, rushing them to the league way too soon.

Nick Lardis needed more time, and I would argue Kevin Korchinski, Sam Rinzel, Artyom Levshunov, Frank Nazar, and Oliver Moore needed more time there, too. The NHL is not a developmental league, and the Blackhawks needed to realize that earlier. But it's too late now.

Danny Wirtz is not off the hook, but he is the owner of this team. He won't be going anywhere, but he needs people around him who know how to build young teams, like Dale Tallon, and market teams, like John McDonough did in the early years.

Wirtz needs to make changes to save this franchise.

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