Something Strange is happening in Chicago...

Saturday night in Carolina, the Blackhawks were down 7-0 after two periods and lost that game 9-2. Chicago is now 4-13-1 on the season, that is 9 points in 18 games, 31st in the league. This is the team that drafted 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in three straight drafts. The strange part is that their star player, Connor Bedard, is not the problem, and he's scoring more every year. He scored .82 points a game in 24-25, 1.09 last season, and 1.17 so far this year. The real question is, how does the team that has the best picks in hockey end up at the bottom of the leaderboard when their best player keeps getting better? Carolina outshot Chicago 33-20, and nine goals matches the Hurricanes' team record since they moved to Carolina. Chicago gave up nine goals in Carolina. Carolina scored four in the first and three in the second and Chicago didn't score until the third down seven to nothing. Over 18 games Chicago has been outscored 76 to 39. Bedard had a hand in both goals with one goal and one assist. Chicago allows 4.22 goals a game and it scores 2.17. After a 3-7 start Jeff Blashill said on October 24th quote we're not far off from playing the way we want to play at all. Chicago has one win in the eight games since. That's not a bad week. That is a team that is getting worse. That was the end of a three-game road trip. Chicago lost 5-3 in Florida, 4-1 in Tampa, and 9-2 in Carolina. That is six goals scored on 18 allowed in three games. Chicago has nine of a possible 36 points, a .250 points percentage. It scores 2.17 goals a game, tied with Philadelphia for the fewest in the league. Its power play is clicking at 9.8%, that's 32nd of 32 teams, and the next worst is Ottawa at 13.2. Chicago takes 22.9 shots a game and gives up 30.7. So if the picks were not the reason, who was out there with Bedard? Bedard had shoulder surgery on July 8th and has played 12 of Chicago's 18 games. He scored 23 goals and 44 assists in 82 games in 24-25, then 30 goals and 45 assists in 69 games last season. Bedard has five goals and 37 shots in those 12 games, 3.1 shots a game. He has four multi-point games in those 12, and he had a goal and an assist in Carolina. Bedard has 14 points. The next best Blackhawk is Kent Stulac with 11. Chicago's veteran forwards aren't filling the gap. Bertuzzi has six points. Tervainen has six. Donato has five. When Bedard and Kent Stulac do play together, it works. Bleacher Nation counted seven of Kent Stulac's goals in the 11 games Bedard played, and Bedard had an assist on five of them. Chicago has found one winger that does work with Bedard, and he's a rookie. Kansterov has nine goals and an eight-game point streak, which leads every rookie in the NHL. And behind the forwards, nobody is stopping the puck. Spencer Knight is Chicago's starter. He has an .881 save percentage and a 3.66 goals against average in 14 games. Arvid Soderblom has an .842 save percentage in 5 games. Both of Chicago's goalies are under .900, and the team allows 4.22 goals a game. So even if Bedard does go out and score a point every game, it's not even close enough to close that gap. So where did the money go? And if you want to stay up to date on the latest news around the NHL just like this, go down below, hit that subscribe button. It's completely free to do so. And we're on the road for 25,000 subscribers. Chicago traded the fourth overall pick and Louis Crepier to Buffalo for Bo and Byram. Then they signed him for six years at $12.5 million a season. That is the fourth pick and $75 million on one defenseman. On November 2nd, Blashill said, quote, he hasn't been medically cleared to play yet. Chicago also signed Patrick Kane for two years and $16 million. He has one goal and eight assists in 15 games, and he is out as well. On November 3rd, Bedard said of Kane, quote, he's one of the heartbeats of this team. He's Patrick Kane. We hope he's back soon. Bedard had shoulder surgery on July 8th and has played 12 of Chicago's 18 games. Chicago is carrying a $103.1 million payroll and has nine points in 18 games. The money is spent, the picks are traded, and the two big signings are hurt. And Chicago hasn't been short on picks either. They've been stacking them. From 2022 to 2025, Chicago made 11 first-round picks. Chicago's 2022 class alone was Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar, and Sam Renzel. The 2025 class was Frondell at 3rd, Nestrezel at 25th, and West at 29th. And the 2024 class had Leshunov 2nd, Voivere at 18th, and Benacker at 27th. Nazar has 7 points in 16 games, Renzel has 5 in 17. Leshunov, the 2nd pick in 2024, has 3 points in 18 games. Oliver Moore, the 19th pick in 2023, has 3 in 17. None of them have been considered a bust yet, but this is a lot of picks that aren't producing points for you yet. And unfortunately, last season looked the same. In 25-26, Blaschel's first year, Chicago went 29-39-14 and scored 213 goals. It was a goal difference of minus 62. Chicago had 10 losing streaks of three games or more that season. That slide is a pattern, and we're seeing it again this season. So this season's 4, 13, and 1 is the same slide with one more month of evidence. And everybody compares the San Jose Sharks to the Chicago Blackhawks because they entered the rebuild around the same time. So let's kind of take a comparison here to see how they stack up against each other. Chicago took Bedard first in 2023, Leshunov second in 2024, and Antoine Frondel third in 2025. San Jose took Will Smith fourth, Celebrini first, and Michael Mises second. Chicago had the better slot once in 2023. Chicago had the better slot in 2024 and 2025. Add it up, and the two teams have almost had the exact same draft luck. The standings split in a single season. In 24-25, Chicago finished nine points ahead of San Jose. Last season, San Jose finished 14 points ahead of Chicago. Both drafted first overall. Celebrini had 115 points last season, but Erd had 75. That is the gap. Celebrini added 52 points in a year. Bedard added 8. Celebrini went from 25 goals to 45 in a year, and Bedard went from 23 to 30. San Jose also put its next two top picks right next to him. Michael Mesa and Will Smith are on Celebrini's line right now. Celebrini has 21 points in 17 games, 1.24 a game. Bedard has 14 and 12, 1.17 a game. Celebrini takes 4.2 shots a game. Bedard takes 3.1. Celebrini plays 23.1 minutes a night. Bedard plays 20.3. The scoring rates are almost the same. What is different is the help. Besides Celebrini, seven other Sharks have eight or more points. Besides Bedard, only three other Blackhawks do. San Jose isn't fixed either. It is 7-11-1 and has lost five in a row in regulation. Its goal difference is minus 21. Chicago's is minus 37. San Jose still leads Chicago by six points this season, 15-9. San Jose is the proof that this flips quickly. It was nine points behind Chicago in 24-25 and now 14 ahead a year later. That flip took one year. So how long is it going to take Chicago? Blashill called Chicago's start, quote, a step backwards on October 30th. On November 3rd, he said, quote, we took too many penalties 100% and too many minors that were 100% avoidable. A November 8th headline in Chicago had Blashill not concerned over his job security. Chicago reporters have started writing out eight changes General Manager Kyle Davidson should consider. Kyle Davidson was the one who built this roster around Bedard, so the questions don't just stop at the coach. Blashill said it himself on October 25th, quote, the numbers I trust the most by a country mile are the ones we do internally. Chicago's own numbers say the exact same thing the standings do. But a coach can't turn picks into players. On July 18th, 10 days after shoulder surgery, Bedard signed a five-year, $50 million-a-year extension. It has a no-movement clause and runs through 2030-31. The Hockey News reported that Chicago wanted a longer deal, and Bedard picked the shorter one. That makes the deadline 2030-31. He is a free agent after that, and Chicago has to prove to him that they can put a team around him that can win the Stanley Cup at that point. So my call is, this is a roster problem. This is not a Bedard problem. He's still excelling despite whoever he has on his lineup. I think this falls on Kyle Davidson not building the right roster around Connor Bedard. We see the results that are happening in San Jose right now. They're on their upswing, starting to come out of a rebuild where Chicago is still stuck in it. Obviously right now the reason they are losing a lot of games is because Kane and Byram are both out so hopefully when they do come back we can start to see this team start to take shape and win a few games. And obviously right now they are 31st in the league with nine points just second last so hopefully with these guys back they can climb out of that hole and just start to compete. I definitely think the doubt in my mind falls on Davidson rather than the coach. The coach just came in last season. He's been trying to figure it all out. And obviously last year was a bad year for them. And I think obviously Davidson, I think he's a solid GM, but the picks that he made and Pieces he put around Bedard, I don't think were the right choices. That Bo and Byram contract is definitely a big question mark. I think he's a great defenseman, but we'll have to see how that falls out. But right now, I think that this roster that they built around Bedard is not a winning one, but hopefully that changes, and I hope for the sake of Chicago fans that what I'm saying isn't true and that these guys will develop into a great team. So coming up on Thursday, Chicago does take on Buffalo, which will be Bowen Byram's homecoming back in Buffalo. So hopefully we'll get to see those guys back in the lineup then. Now let's talk about some good news, and there's plenty of it. Bedard is signed through 2030-31 at $15 million a year. Chicago's rookies, Kants, DeRop, leads every rookie in the NHL with 9 goals in 18 games. Frondell, the third pick last June, has 8 points in 18 games as a rookie. Frank Nazar, the 13th pick in 2022, has 5 goals in 16 games. Wyatt Kaiser leads Chicago's defense with six points, and Alex Vlasic plays more than anyone on the team at 20.9 minutes a night. That is a group you can build around, not a roster that's been torn down. The Athletics' Wheeler and Daily Faceoff's Ellis both rank Chicago's prospect pool number one in hockey. Chicago owns Edmonton's 20-27 first on top of its own and its own first-rounders in 28, 29, and 20-30. And Byron McCain are both on injury reserve, like we mentioned, so the lineup that Chicago paid for isn't really on the ice right now. Bedard is getting better every single year in this league and hopefully we can see him hit 100 points this year. Do you think that Chicago and Bedard will make the playoffs before 2031 when his contract is up? Let me know down in the comments by typing yes or no. This has been another episode of NHL Digest. If you're enjoying the daily content here, go down below, hit that subscribe button. As always, I'm your host KC, keep your stick on the ice.