Will the Blackhawks even finish the 2024-25 season with a 20-goal scorer?

The Blackhawks remain in turmoil as we head toward the two-thirds mark of the 2024-25 season. Heading into Thursday night’s slate of games, the Hawks are tied for last place in the league with the San Jose Sharks, but you can argue they’re in even worse shape than their counterparts in California. 

They’re currently in the bottom five in goals scored, ranking 28th out of 32 teams, and are 30th in goals allowed. At the time of this writing, they have yet to snag their first 20-goal scorer this season, and this raises the question of whether they will even finish the season with one.

Okay, let’s just take a deep breath, raise our hands, and back off some. The short answer is yes, the Hawks will finish the year with a 20-goal scorer. Or, at least, that’s the case now, as Tyler Bertuzzi is already closing in on that number with 17. 

Further, Ryan Donato (14 goals) and Connor Bedard (13 goals) are also well in contention. No, neither have been consistent with their scoring this season, but they seem to be faring just well enough to find twine at least 20 times this year. 

Pressure to score at least 20 times will be on Connor Bedard

If there’s anyone on this team who must score 20 times, it’s Connor Bedard, whose sophomore season still hasn’t been a smooth ride. With just 41 points in 47 games this year, Bedard is still only on pace for between 71 and 72, but he’s also on track to finish with between 24 and 25 goals. 

Yeah, so the good news is, even if he hasn’t been the consistent scorer we’ve all envisioned, he’s still well on his way to sailing past the 20-goal mark. Tyler Bertuzzi looks like a shoo-in, and Ryan Donato is just one more hot streak away from getting to 20 as well. 

Rounding out those with double-digit goals right now are Nick Foligno and Teuvo Teravainen, who have 11 and 10 goals on the year, respectively. Both are still averaging top-six minutes, indicating that the Hawks more than trust them to bury pucks into the netting, and each have enjoyed more than sensational productive moments throughout their careers. 

So, not only should the Hawks finish the season with at least three players to hit 20-plus goals, but they can have as many as five if they start coming together more as a team. It might not be much, but that would be an improvement over last season when only Connor Bedard and Jason Dickinson hit the mark.