The Blackhawks spent the offseason adding some veteran pieces around Bedard so he could begin flourishing with the right influences around him. They added Taylor Hall, the No. 1 overall pick in 2010 that's bounced around to several teams, along with more skill in Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi.

For context, the Blackhawks won 26 games the season before drafting Bedard, then went on to win even fewer games (23) during his rookie season. They have 14 wins at the halfway point of the 2024-25 regular season, putting them on pace for a modest increase to 28.

Connor Bedard had a goal and an assist, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1. Frank Nazar and Ilya Mikheyev also scored for Chicago, which had lost six of seven.

With the Chicago Blackhawks dead last in the standings, general manager Kyle Davidson will likely spend more time over the next months evaluating draft prospects and taking calls leading up to the March 7 deadline. Davidson likely won’t have his busiest deadline since he took over, but his team has a few candidates to be traded.

The NHL trade deadline is two months away but the Blackhawks will be sellers, likely dealing Taylor Hall due to their poor season.

You will not find many more dramatic one-year drop-offs in professional sports than what is happening with the New York Rangers. A team that had made the Eastern Conference Final in two of the previous three years,