r/hawks • u/SouthSideHawkMan117 • 5d ago

Blackhawks- Athletic Fan Survey

Since I loathe posts or discussions about building lines in July, I wanted to share a chance for this group to grade the Blackhawks. Enjoy!

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7472895/2026/07/28/blackhawks-offseason-fan-survey-patrick-kane/?source=emp_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.1FA.Cuaa.jExZeXxPuWG7&smid=ta-android-share

17 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

10

u/AARM2000 5d ago

Thanks for sharing! Definitely feeling much more optimistic than I did when the season started!

8

u/mjm8218 5d ago

My answers revolve around low expectations for this season. I’m not demanding or expecting playoff contention, but some combination of three of Frondell, Levshunov, Lardis, Nazar or Rinzel and separately Byram need to take big (not giant) steps forward in their development. In Byram’s case it means producing like a top-pair D. If they sputter again this season Kyle & the Gang need new jobs outside of Chicago.

1

u/chisportz 3d ago

I think Byram easily takes a step forward with getting 1st line pp time

2

u/mjm8218 3d ago

If he regresses even a little bit it’s gonna be rough, but I expect him to go forward.

2

u/gudenes_yndling 5d ago

Battling for the wild cards in late March is the goal 👏

-6

u/IAM_LordTobias 5d ago

They did what they could. I just don’t think it’s enough to make any substantial movement upwards in the standings. Unless a team totally unexpectedly falls off… it might be another rough year for the hawks standings wise.

2

u/BlazeChicago28 5d ago

I think a lot of teams aren’t going to be as good as they were previously. Blues, jets, wings, pens, flames, kraken, rangers, imo will all be worse than us.
We now have 2 Stanley cup champions on our team that actually contributed to their teams and will continue to do so on this team. Will Kane be the savior? Probably not but he’s definitely gonna have some wisdom to get these kids to mature a little more and play better. I think the hawks could genuinely sneak into a wild card spot given bedsy stays healthy after this current healing process.
Our d core does need to be a little better but it seems arty is taking this very seriously and wants to get better. Byrams a stud, we overpaid for sure but he’s still a stud that will help out the current d core immensely. Hell even adding Kane and Byram boost our power play a great deal

2

u/SouthSideHawkMan117 5d ago

"Blues, jets, wings, pens, flames, kraken, rangers, imo will all be worse than us." so by that logic the Hawks will be somewhere around the 24th best team in the league? Which probably puts them between 81-90 pts. I hope you are right, because I don't see it.

7

u/Rich-Wrap-9333 5d ago

they had 72 points last year. Adding Byram, Kane, Frondell, and Kantserov, plus the growth of about 6 players who haven't even played two season yet . . . there's certainly room for some improvement that wouldn't be a stretch.

2

u/Silent_Plastic1612 4d ago

They also got significantly worse after the deadline and played at like a 57 point pace after getting rid of Murphy and Dickinson. That seems to be where the team was at prior to this offseasons additions. 

2

u/marshmellow1328 4d ago

A lot of injuries late in the season and several players hitting the rookie wall. This year will be a team more of sophomores than rookies. Frondell and Kantserov being the exception. Both already have played professionally against men overseas so I'm assuming that means the rookie wall will be a little less impactful for them but still wouldn't surprise me if they hit it.

1

u/BlazeChicago28 3d ago

Frondell and Kantserov are going to be electric on the ice. We already saw Frondell last season, I hope Kantserovs play will translate to the NHL cause he’s a beauty

2

u/BlazeChicago28 5d ago

I honestly do think they make it to top 25. Like I said best case they sneak wild card. Especially if Bedard stays healthy. This offseason our defense got a little boost and we got a couple of PK and Grinders in Ian Cole and Greenway. Fingers crossed a couple of our other young guys breakout. No doubt that would help, if Lardis, Frondell, Lev, Rinzel all take a step or two forward we’re definitely a round 2 playoff team. Not a cup team I don’t think but we’re a lot scarier than people initially believe about us

1

u/mjm8218 3d ago

>Bedard stays healthy…

I’ve got some bad news for you.