It was a career season for Jason Dickinson. Top-six forward Philipp Kurashev made his breakthrough. In comparison to the talent in front of him, goalie Petr Mrazek had an excellent season and avoided a spell on injured reserve.
Alex Vlasic demonstrated his ability as a top-pairing defenseman. Although it was anticipated that rookie Kevin Korchinski would spend the majority of the year in the junior league, he ended up gaining crucial NHL experience. Even though he isn’t the formal captain, Nick Foligno has emerged as the squad leader.
It was nevertheless a season of plenty of awful. The group did not have a three-game winning streak. When they drove, they were awful. This team suffered so many injuries that their organizational depth became apparent.
This season, three players were a huge letdown…
Arvid Soderblom
It was time for Soderblom to take the lead as the Hawks’ starting goalie for the long haul. Rather, out of all the goalies who appeared in more than 30 games, he was the poorest.
His save percentage of.872% and goals-against average of 3.92 were the lowest. Additionally, he had the lowest goals saved above expectations (18.2).
Soderblom only managed five victories and 15 games in which he allowed four goals or more. The Hawks extended Mrazek’s contract for two more years to serve as a bridge starter until prospect Drew Commesso is ready because of how horribly he failed.
It is now reasonable to question if Soderblom ought to be given a chance to start as the backup goalie for the upcoming campaign. Arvid’s contract is still in effect for another year, but it might be better for the team to send him to Europe, much as they did with Cristobal Huet years ago.
Reichel, Lukas
Prior to Connor Bedard’s arrival, Reichel was considered one of the organization’s top prospects. Then Reichel performed like an unknown. It was hoped that he would become the backup center. Rather, he performed so poorly that he was dropped to the fourth line, where he continued to struggle until being demoted to Rockford in February.
When he was sent down to the AHL, he had seven assists and three goals. When Reichel returned in March, he performed better.
It ought to be sufficient to prevent being non-tendered. He is also returning to Rockford to support the IceHogs in their playoff quest for the Calder Cup. With any luck, the experience will help him close out strong so he can enter camp the next season ready to play.
Taylor Raddysh Raddysh’s 20 goals and 17 assists during the previous season suggested he might be a valuable addition. He failed to live up to all that promise, managing only five goals and nine assists.
You have to declare the Blackhawks losers in the Brandon Hagel trade because of his awful play. At least in terms of the players that were traded throughout the transaction.
Raddysh should not be tendered by the Hawks over the offseason because they have many capable replacements.