Top 25 Blackhawks of the quarter century, No. 15-11

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 continue with players 15-11.

No. 15 – Alexei Zhamnov

Alexei Zhamnov was put into a tough spot the second he was acquired for Jeremy Roenick in 1996. It’s never easy to replace a local legend, but it’s even harder when it’s a guy like Roenick. His personality was just as big as his slap shot. He was everything the fans at the Chicago Stadium wanted in their top star. Zhamnov was the exact opposite. He was a quiet playmaker rather than a boisterous goal scorer. However, he still put up great numbers during his time with the Blackhawks.

The talented Russian center played 273 games between 2000 and 2004, when he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. He scored 72 goals and recorded 230 points. Many of his assists came on Tony Amonte's goals as they spent much of their time on the top line together. Zhamnov did his best work on the power play, as nearly 40% of his points came on the man advantage.

No. 14 – Johnny Oduya

 The Blackhawks acquired Johnny Oduya at the 2012 trade deadline from the Winnipeg Jets for a second and third-round pick. The move was made to add depth to the blue line, and he became a vital piece of two championship runs. He and Niklas Hjalmarsson formed a formidable pair that ate up a ton of minutes and shut down opponents on a nightly basis.

Offense wasn’t Oduya’s strong suit, but he could contribute from time to time. He scored 10 goals and 45 points in 234 games with the Blackhawks, while averaging 20:29 of ice time per game. In the postseason, that time-on-ice average jumped to 23:00 per game. His offensive production increased during the Stanley Cup playoffs, too, with 23 points in 75 games. In 2013, he had three goals and five points, while averaging 22:45. The top four defenders were leaned on quite a bit during the run to the Stanley Cup in 2015, and Oduya played a career-high 24:45 a night.

No. 13 – Dave Bolland

I’m not going to lie to you, Dave Bolland was my favorite player of the Stanley Cup era. He was a great example of how a young player needs to embrace a different role to succeed in the NHL. He scored 57 goals and 130 points during his final OHL season with the London Knights, but he was never going to be that type of player for the Blackhawks. He learned to embrace the role of being a “rat” and hard to play against, and he etched his place onto a championship roster.

Bolland’s best offensive season came in 2008-09 with 19 goals and 47 points. He matched that goal total in 2011-12. In 332 regular-season games over seven seasons, he scored 70 goals and 168 points while playing rugged defense and a sly physical game. Playoff hockey fit Bolland like a glove. He had eight goals and 16 points during the 23 postseason games in 2010. His battles with the Vancouver Canucks and the Sedin brothers were legendary. His final goal with the Blackhawks was the second half of the most infamous 17 seconds in hockey history!

No. 12 – Seth Jones

And now we get to maybe the most polarizing player on our list. Defenseman Seth Jones joined the Blackhawks at a very strange time. The year before, general manager Stan Bowman wrote a letter to the fans that the team was going in a younger direction, then he traded Duncan Keith to the Edmonton Oilers. The following summer, he made a complete turn by acquiring Jones, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Jake McCabe. However, things fell apart quickly, with head coach Jeremy Colliton being fired and then Bowman resigning in the wake of the Brad Aldrich scandal. The Blackhawks then decided to go for the full teardown and rebuild, which they are still in the middle of.

Jones’ biggest critics always pointed out his contract. Yes, he was overpaid, but not by a lot. He was still the team’s best defender over his four seasons and scored 32 goals and 146 points in his 259 games. He is a hybrid defender who has size and the ability to skate the puck up the ice. We’ve seen how effective he can be surrounded by better players since he arrived with the Florida Panthers. Funny how that works! If anything, even his biggest contractors can be happy that he eventually fetched the Blackhawks Spencer Knight and another first-round pick. .3

No. 11 – Brandon Saad

Brandon Saad was so good for the Blackhawks that he had two go rounds with the team. Initially drafted in the second round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, he was inserted into the lineup on opening night in 2013 because of Daniel Carcillo’s injury and never came out. Saad was a traditional two-way power forward. He was a Marian Hossa light on the ice and became a fan favorite right away.

During his first stint with the Blackhawks, Saad scored 52 goals and 126 points in 208 games, with 10 game-winning goals. In the postseason, he had 15 goals and 25 points in 67 games. His best run was in 2015 when he was third on the team with eight goals. He was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets following the 2015 championship, but returned two years later. He scored 62 goals and 115 points in the three seasons of his second stint before being dealt to the Colorado Avalanche in 2020.