Chicago Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev would love to say being a restricted free agent again after this season isn’t something he thinks about.
That’s not true, though. It’s there.
“Yeah, it’s hard not to have that in the head,” the 25-year-old Kurashev said after practice on Monday. “I’ve had that before with the contract year. You try not to think about it too much. You just want to go out there on the ice. At the end of the day, you can’t control what the contract is. You can control how you play. At the end of the day, that’s how you will get a new contract. I got to make sure I start playing well again and help the team, so I can get a contract and all that. But I’m not thinking about that right now. I’m just playing every game that I can and do the best I can. At the end of the day, that’s how I’ll get that.”
Kurashev is also well aware he hasn’t taken care of business well enough on the ice this season to have peace of mind about his business off it. He has been a healthy scratch the last two games. It looks like he’ll return to the lineup Wednesday, but it will have been a full week since he’s played in a game. He also sat out one game earlier in the season. That’s a harsh reality check for someone who produced a career-high 54 points last season, started the season centering the second line and was hopeful to take another step this season and get paid for it.
Kurashev does have time to turn his season around. There are 61 games left. But as Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson has tried to get across to him the past week, it’s on Kurashev to do that. He has to make things happen from here on out. So far this season, he’s been too passive.
“We don’t want him to be reckless, but we need him to go after and get that puck and be a little bit more engaged like he was last year and shooting the puck, take charge,” Richardson said. “It’s not always look for a play. Sometimes it’s look to shoot first, and if it’s not there, maybe there’s some time to skate into ice and make a play.”
Kurashev mentioned being more aggressive multiple times on Monday. If he gets in Wednesday, he’s ready to shoot more, drive more, forecheck more.
“I don’t feel like I have many shots, especially in the last couple games I was playing,” said Kurashev, who has four points on the season. “I got to stay on that, and then try to attack the net more. You never know, it can bounce in or someone can be a rebound and my teammates score. I got to be more aggressive and try and take the game and not just wait for something to open up.
“Of course, it’s frustrating when you don’t play and you don’t maybe produce as much as you want to. But I’m trying to stay positive and try not to think about it too much. Every day trying to take a step. I’m sure it’ll start bouncing, just got to work hard and take the game and not wait for it to come to me.”
Kurashev is hopeful playing with Connor Bedard again will spark him. Last season, Kurashev produced eight goals and 14 assists, including 10 primary assists, while sharing the ice with Bedard in five-on-five play. This season, Kurashev has zero goals and one assist in 90 minutes with Bedard.
There are a lot of different ways to dissect Bedard’s game so far this season. Below, I’ll look at him through Corey Sznajder’s tracking data.
First is Bedard’s tracking data from 2023-24. He was firmly in the blue in a lot of categories.
And below are what those numbers look like this season. He’s still excelling in a lot of areas, but his defensive numbers are down from last season. Another category that jumps out is his one-timers per 60. That was in the positive last season. Most NHL players will struggle to score if they’re not scoring off passes from teammates with one-timers. That could be an area where Taylor Hall could help as a linemate next game. Hall is one of the team’s top passers and creates a lot within the offensive zone.
Most NHL teams hand out a player of the game award after victories. It’s often a unique item, too. The New York Rangers have their Broadway hat. The Nashville Predators hand out a small shovel. The Minnesota Wild have a chain with the word “HARD” attached to it, which Michael Russo recently wrote about.
“They made one, right?” Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno said of the Wild’s victory chain. “That’s cool. It’s neat. It’s something personal. Whatever comes up, there’s an inside joke sometimes. We had one that was really funny. I think we had an actual sword (with the Columbus Blue Jackets). We weren’t allowed to travel with it, but at home, we gave it out too, with the kepi (hat).”
The Blackhawks handed out a championship-style wrestling belt for years. It’s since been retired and placed in the archives. They went next with a Blackhawks puck chain. And then last week, they introduced a new tool belt after defeating the Florida Panthers.
“I just think it’s something to change it up,” Foligno said. “I think something has to be personal. It was cool with the puck, but, you know, personal touch. I thought the tool belt, we’re trying to build something here. You need one of those to build. Just something tacky but funny.”
There are future plans for an even more team-specific award.
“I think down the road we’re going to have something pretty cool from Sac and Fox Nation (with whom the Blackhawks have a partnership),” Foligno said. “That’ll be pretty cool as well. Hopefully a lot of games to be won and passed around. … I just said, with our namesake and the special relationship that we have, we need to have something they feel proud that we hand out. Just like in their culture, like when someone does something, to distinguish they seem to hand out feathers or whatever it might be. So we’re trying to think of something very personal to our team and make them proud that we’re handing it out in their honor.”
It might be safe for Blackhawks fans to get excited about forward prospect Nick Lardis. He just continues to score goals.
Lardis has been especially feeling it over his last five games. In that span, he had nine goals, six assists and 41 shots on net. He had two hat tricks and two games of 10-plus shots on net. He’s now tied for an OHL-lead 23 goals in 22 games. He also leads the league with 123 shots on net and is sixth with 36 points.
“The skill set has always been there with Lardis — the skating, the shot, the ability to get the shot off quick. But talking to Andy Delmore, who has been his main point of contact this year from our development staff, just said he’s less of a complementary player now,” Blackhawks assistant general manager of player development Mark Eaton said recently. “It’s less for him about waiting to get the puck in good areas. He’s going to get pucks. He’s retrieving more pucks. He’s working to possess more pucks and get pucks in more higher quality scoring areas.”
The last Blackhawks prospect to lead the OHL in goals was Alex DeBrincat. He had 65 goals in 63 games during the 2016-17 season.
Here’s a compilation of some of Lardis’ recent goals:
Does winning faceoffs matter? Sure, somewhat, but probably not as much as a lot of people think. There is no direct correlation between winning faceoffs and being a great possession team. For example, the Panthers are 28th in the league with a 47.6 faceoff percentage. Some studies have shown winning or losing a ton of faceoffs can result in a goal differential over large sample sizes.
That’s all to say it’s difficult to gauge whether the Blackhawks’ faceoff percentage has been a factor in their losses this season. The Blackhawks are 29th in the NHL with a 45.1 percentage. It is interesting to see when that percentage is broken down by zone. The Blackhawks are 20th with a 49.7 winning percentage in the offensive zone, 27th with a 46.4 percentage in the neutral zone and 32nd with a 40.2 percentage in the defensive zone.
The defensive zone number does give you pause. You also factor in the Blackhawks have taken the seventh-most faceoffs at 448. That equates to a lot of lost faceoffs. It might be worth my time later in the season as the sample size grows to see how many goals the Blackhawks are allowing soon after faceoff losses.
The Blackhawks are near last season’s home attendance average so far, but there might be some concern if Bedard doesn’t get going and/or the team doesn’t start winning.
Through eight games this season, they’ve averaged 18,649 fans. They finished with an average of 18,836 fans last season. Patrick Kane’s second game back has helped bump the numbers early this season. The Blackhawks drew a season-high 19,984 for their game against the Detroit Red Wings. They have also had four games with 19,000-plus fans and one with 18,000-plus.
Their three games under 18,000 might be an issue going forward this season. Last season, the Blackhawks had just six games under 18,000 fans. With 33 to go, there isn’t a big margin for errors. February, March and April could be challenging with 10 of their 14 games on weekdays.
Playing one of their home games this season at Wrigley Field for the Winter Classic will obviously be a big boost. They also have 12 more weekend games remaining.
Can you guess which Blackhawks line has been together the most this season?
It’s the fourth line of Craig Smith, Lukas Reichel and Patrick Maroon, as we all expected. The trio has played together a team-high 86.6 minutes, according to Evolving Hockey. While the line has an expected goals percentage of just 41.71, it has defied expectations. The Blackhawks have outscored teams 5-1 with the line on the ice.
If I were to rank the Blackhawks prospects by play, not potential, this season, this is where I’d have them:
1. Frank Nazar, forward, Rockford IceHogs (AHL): Nazar has his share of doubters. The NHL will be the ultimate test, but I think he has a chance to be part of the Blackhawks’ core in the future. The offense and skating appear to be there. He could be the second-line center of the future. He has a chance to be an elite penalty killer, too. If he can smooth out some areas in the defensive zone, which is what he’s working on, he should be able to help the Blackhawks sooner rather than later.
2. Nick Lardis, forward, Brantford Bulldogs (OHL): See above.
3. Sam Rinzel, defenseman, University of Minnesota (NCAA): Rinzel is becoming everything the Blackhawks dreamed he would be when they used a first-round pick on him in 2022. He’s finally added some muscle to his frame, and it’s allowing him to be a difference-maker all over the ice. He’s one of the best offensive defensemen in college hockey and is no longer a defensive liability.
4. Aidan Thompson, forward, University of Denver (NCAA): Whether Thompson’s breakout college season is anything more at the next level will be seen with time, but he’s definitely off to an impressive year. He has had a point in every one of his 14 games this season and is second in the nation in points and third in goals. He’s an older prospect, but there’s still time for the Blackhawks to sign him and see what he can bring.
5. Samuel Savoie, forward, IceHogs: Landon Slaggert deserves some recognition in Rockford, too, but Savoie has been the biggest surprise. He took a step from last season’s injury, and you weren’t sure how he would bounce back. He’s returned in a big way. His speed and tenacity have been impressive all over the ice. He could be in the NHL next season.
(Photo of Philipp Kurashev skating against Kraken forward Chandler Stephenson: Stephen Brashear / USA Today)
