Despite Horrible Start, Blackhawks Have Promising Young Talent

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Even though the NHL season is less than half over, Chicago is shook by how terrible the Blackhawks have been playing. Regardless, the team has some young skaters that are making moves.

Chicago has lost six straight games, and eight of its last nine. The Blackhawks have 23 points (9-16-5), good enough for 13th place in the Western Conference. Overall in the NHL, only the Los Angeles Kings are worse; not by much. However, Chicago has seven players between the ages of 19 and 26 that account for 80 points of the Blackhawks’ 221 so far this season, which is 36 percent of production.

By comparison, Patrick Kane (32 points) and Jonathan Toews (24) represent 25 percent of the Blackhawks’ offense. So, as a way to alleviate some of Chicago’s pain and look on the brighter side, here is a spotlight on seven youthful players that are making a difference for the Blackhawks in 2018:

Alex DeBrincat (20 years old)

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Already with a full season under his belt that included three separate hat-trick performances, this Michigan resident is well on his way to another successful campaign. We’re talking about a left-winger who has enough hand-eye coordination to control a pass that bounced off his thigh, and turn it into a goal within seconds. DeBrincat has 11 goals and 11 assists.

There is not much doubt about DeBrincat finishing this season with more points than last (52), especially if Toews is feeding him the puck. DeBrincat is the cream of the third line. Expect him to climb the ranks in the future.

Erik Gustafsson (26 years old)

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Switching between the AHL and the NHL since being signed away from Sweden in 2015, the defenseman has almost played as many full games in 2018 as he did all of last season. Gustafsson has five goals and seven assists; three points in the last five games. If he didn’t score the game-winning wrister in overtime against the Florida Panthers, the Blackhawks would be the worst team in the league right now.

Gustafsson is a third-line grunger who can handle a puck. All he needs is for Jan Rutta to be a better elder.

Dominik Kahun (23 years old)

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There has been a fruitful history of Czech forwards in the NHL — Jaromir Jagr, Patrik Elias, Milan Hejduk, Vaclav Prospal, Bobby Holik, Tomas Plekanec, etc. — and Kahun has had a nice beginning. This is his first professional season, and he has 11 points; he should be able to eclipse the 30-point mark.

When Kahun was just a prospect back in September against Detroit, he batted the puck out of mid-air past Jimmy Howard for a goal. Not a bad first impression, and playing on the same line as Kane and Artem Anisimov is not bad, either.

Dylan Strome (21 years old)

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A recent mid-season transplant from the Arizona Coyotes, the Canadian center went from one sub-par team to another. At least, Strome is now part of a franchise with much more of an esteemed history and fanbase. His output has increased since joining the Blackhawks: four points in six games versus six in 20 with the Coyotes.

Although, here is the problem: Strome’s -14 +/- is one tally better than Carolina’s Jaccob Slavin, who is dead last.

Henri Jokiharju (19 years old)

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Ranking 362 on the all-time 19-year-old NHL player points list — Wayne Gretzky (who else, right?) holds the record with 164 points over the 1980-81 season — Jokiharju is getting his feet wet. The Finnish defenseman has 10 assists and zero goals over his first 27 career games. But as Duncan Keith’s linemate, he’s probably acquiring a lot of hockey knowledge.

David Kampf (23 years old)

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Nine points (three goals, six assists) over 26 games is not anything to bark at, but Kampf shares a forward line with Toews and Brandon Saad. Kampf is a smooth skater and has enough of a reputation to end up on SBNation’s Blackhawks Top 25 Under 25 for 2018.

Alexandre Fortin (21 years old)

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The Blainville, Quebec native is not much more than a benchwarmer, but he’s gotten ice time in 22 of the Blackhawks’ 30 contests so far. He has three goals, three assists and nowhere to go but up.