Top 25 Blackhawks of the quarter century, No. 10-6

As we count down the final days of 2025 and look ahead to 2026, this is the perfect time to take a look back at the last 25 years of Chicago Blackhawks hockey. We’ve seen it all since the turn of the century. It started with a directionless team with no hope of ever regaining its former glory. Then, after Rocky Wirtz took over the team, we witnessed the franchise's greatest stretch of hockey, with three Stanley Cups in six years. We are now starting to see the light after the start of a long rebuilding process, with numerous talented young players looking to get the Blackhawks back to championship contention.

Over the final five days of the quarter season, we’ll take a look back at the 25 best Blackhawks players from the past 25 years. Today, we move into the top 10 with a future franchise icon and some of the best to ever wear the uniform.

No. 10 – Connor Bedard

We are only two and a half seasons into Connor Bedard’s NHL career, but he’s shown enough already to be in our top 10. It will be fun to watch how high he climbs the lists of all-time Blackhawks greats. He certainly has the talent to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, in franchise history. He has 64 goals and 172 points through his first 181 career games. The talent that made him the number one overall pick in 2023 is evident, and his production is starting to come on consistently.

It’s crazy to think that some keyboard warriors and so-called “experts” started to use the word “bust” to describe Bedard after two seasons. Scoring 45 goals and 128 points as a teenager in the NHL is not a common occurrence. Before his shoulder injury on Dec. 13, Bedard was having a Hart Trophy-type season with 19 goals and 44 points in 31 games. When he returns to the lineup, watch out, he’s going to finish the season with a bang.

No. 9 – Alex DeBrincat

Alex DeBrincat might be the best pure goal scorer the Blackhawks had during the past quarter-century. He is a pure sniper who knows how to find the scoring areas on the ice and get off a quick and deadly shot. How he fell to the second round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft is still a mystery. He turned pro at the start of the 2017-18 season and never played a game in the AHL.

DeBrincat scored 28 goals in his rookie season, the second-lowest output during his time in Chicago. The only season he didn’t hit 20 goals was 2019-20, when he scored 18. Had that season not been cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, he would have hit that mark. He scored his career-high of 41 goals in 2018-19 and matched it in 2021-22, his final season with the Blackhawks. He scored 160 goals and 307 points in his 368 games with the team. He was the first casualty of Kyle Davidson’s teardown, as he was traded to the Ottawa Senators at the 2022 draft for three picks, including the one used to select Kevin Korchinski.

No. 8 – Niklas Hjalmarsson

Even though Mike Smith had already laid the foundation for the Stanley Cup era, Dale Tallon's completion of the job started with the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. By far, the best pick from that draft was Niklas Hjalmarrson. The rugged stay-at-home defenseman dished out 329 hits and blocked 1,186 shots over his 10 seasons in Chicago.

While his teammates Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook got most of the accolades on the back end, Hjalmarsson did all the dirty work. He blocked shots and played with an edge, while taking on the task of the toughest defensive assignments each night. Many players on those three Stanley Cup winners said Hjalmarsson was a vital piece and they couldn’t have won without him. Marian Hossa and Johnny Oduya were among those who personally sang his praises to me over the years.

No. 7 – Patrick Sharp

Tallon made the best trade of his tenure as Blackhawks general manager on Dec. 5, 2005, when he acquired Patrick Sharp from the Philadelphia Flyers for Matt Ellison. Sharp became a pivotal piece of three Stanley Cup championships. Much like DeBrincat, he was a pure goal scorer. His hot streaks were legendary, as he could take the team on his back for games at a time, making sure guys like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Hossa didn’t have to do all the heavy lifting.

Sharp had seven seasons of at least 20 goals for the Blackhawks. He had four seasons with over 30 goals, including a career-high 36 in 2007-08. During the postseason, he scored 42 goals and 80 points in 117 games. He scored 11 goals during the championship run of 2010 and 10 in 2013. He scored 28 of his 42 postseason goals at 5-on-5. He is still beloved in Chicago and gets a huge ovation every time he’s back at the United Center. The Blackhawks have been blessed with some great players to wear No. 10 with Sharp, Tony Amonte, and Dennis Hull.

No. 6 – Corey Crawford

The best part about having time pass is being able to appreciate things more than in the moment. It took being over a decade removed from winning two Stanley Cups for Corey Crawford to finally get the appreciation he so richly deserved. Even when the Blackhawks were dominating the NHL, fans and pundits alike said any goaltender could win behind those teams. Now that we can look back on those days, we know that Crawford was one of the best ever to call the Chicago crease home.

It took Crawford some time to arrive in Chicago after being drafted in 2003, but once he took over the crease in 2010, he left his mark on the franchise. His 260 wins are third all-time in franchise history, behind only Tony Esposito and Glenn Hall. He is seventh all-time with 26 shutouts. Many felt Crawford should have won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2013, including the guy who did, Kane. During that magical postseason run, he posted a 1.84 goals against average (GAA) and .932 save percentage (SV%). In 96 career Stanley Cup playoff games, he had 52 wins, a 2.38 GAA, .918 SV%, and five shutouts.