Tyler Bertuzzi and Connor Bedard are giving Blackhawks fans a glimpse of the future

The Chicago Blackhawks may be one of the NHL's most disappointing teams again this season, but there's light at the end of the tunnel. For years, the Blackhawks' woes have come from their inability to put the puck in the back of the net consistently, but two players are changing that narrative.

Connor Bedard has finally broken out, and Tyler Bertuzzi looks like the gritty point-producer he was during his days with the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins. Chicago is nowhere near a finished product, but what Bedard and Bertuzzi have done this season from a scoring standpoint will help define the Blackhawks' identity.

Bertuzzi's second hat trick of the year came in Sunday's narrow win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Bruce Miles of NHL.com wrote, "Bertuzzi joined Connor Bedard (two times) as the second Blackhawks player with multiple hat tricks in 2025-26. It is the second season in the past 30 years that Chicago has had at least two different players record as many (also; 2021-22)."

The situation between today and 2021-22 couldn't be more different. Four seasons ago, the Hawks were entering a state of rapid decline. Players from their dynasty years, like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews were still in town, but the Hawks were heading into fire sale mode to prepare for a long rebuild.

The Hawks would trade Kane, while Toews would leave shortly after. Chicago then bottomed out and drafted Connor Bedard. Following Bedard's rookie season, they brought in Tyler Bertuzzi to help turn things around in Chicago.

The Blackhawks are now on the back end of that rebuild. Bedard is the centerpiece while Bertuzzi is a strong supporting player. While the Hawks are still a work-in-progress, they're a team on the rise, and they should start seeing regular success again soon.

Chicago Blackhawks scoring is showing signs of life with Bedard and Bertuzzi

Before he went down with a shoulder injury in December, Bedard was proving to Blackhawks fans why he was on his way to becoming one of the game's premier players with 19 goals and 44 points in 31 games. The Hawks, while inconsistent, were more competitive than they had been in five seasons when he was leading the charge with an improved 13-12-6 record.

Bedard's surge contributed to Bertuzzi's resurgence. After 39 games this season, Bertuzzi now leads the team in goals while playing a physical brand of hockey in front of an opponent's net. Their respective performances this season have started changing the narrative for a Blackhawks team that ranked no better than 26th in scoring since the 2020-21 season ended.

The Hawks still have work to do, ranking just 22nd in the league with 116 goals. They were on pace for 238 goals when Bedard went down, which would have been their best mark this decade. Not spectacular, but no longer in the NHL's basement.

Connor Bedard and Tyler Bertuzzi are giving Blackhawks fans more hope

Times are still tough for the Blackhawks. There are stretches where they look like that dysfunctional unit from earlier in the decade, and to add insult to injury, they have been held to a goal or less on eight different occasions.

The rebuild is still occurring, but with Tyler Bertuzzi in town until at least the 2027-28 season and Bedard as the franchise player, expect to see these two lead a more high-octane unit in the coming years.

For Hawks fans everywhere, it will be worth the wait. And they may start having flashes of the dynasty era when Bedard and Bertuzzi keep producing. The better days are coming, and Bedard and Bertuzzi are making sure of it.