“We don’t want to be a team that’s close, we want to find ways to win that game, but that’s part of the growth process.”
I know I’ve written it a million times already, but here’s one more: the Blackhawks have some young players who are going to make mistakes because they’re learning. Last night, against a team that — even without two of their best players — is still a legitimate wagon and is coming off back-to-back championships, they got exposed a lot in the first and third periods. That’s what good, championship-caliber teams do to young teams. That’s what exceptionally well-coached teams do to young teams.
But the quote at the top of our morning notes is from Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill. He also said this about how the Blackhawks will look at their performance in last night’s 3-2 loss to start the season when they get back together in Boston today:
“I don’t think we’re going to walk out of the game and have a big system meeting tomorrow. The [meeting] will be more on pure execution, probably. More on careless plays with the puck, being harder on the puck.”
The Blackhawks have plenty to clean up. And rational fans should have expected that when we considered the Blackhawks’ roster and the opponent. I was looking for some specific things last night.
The first was how Spencer Knight looked behind a group that was giving up too many shots and too much puck possession. He was spectacular. The second was how the new coaching staff approached the forward lines if things got messy. One of the biggest criticisms of Luke Richardson was he juggled Connor Bedard‘s line too much, both in game and between games. After two periods last night, they swapped Ryan Donato for Ilya Mikheyev. Yes, Bedard’s linemates are going to be an ongoing issue until Anton Frondell comes over and/or the Blackhawks acquire a bona fide complementary guy. The third was the young defensemen, and it played out roughly how I expected. The two guys nobody talked about going into the game, Wyatt Kaiser and Ethan Del Mastro, were solid. The guys everyone was talking about and staring at, Sam Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov, struggled at times but also had flashes of their skill and talent. I do wonder how the game may have been different if a healthy Alex Vlasic had skated 22-24 minutes next to Rinzel last night. Based on ice time distribution, the Kaiser-Levshunov pair was third. Finally, a brief moment of appreciation for the job Jason Dickinson did last night. He was on the ice for 11:48 at 5-on-5 during which the Blackhawks out-shot the Panthers 5-1. Natural Stat Trick has his expected Goals Against at 0.01 — easily the best on the team (Colton Dach was second at 0.23). Dickinson finished the night winning 11 of 19 faceoffs (the Blackhawks won 28 of 70 as a team). If he can be a Selke-caliber center again this year, the Blackhawks will be a much better team. Last year on opening night, the Blackhawks’ team average age (29.2) ranked 27th — or sixth-oldest in the NHL. This year on opening night, the Blackhawks’ team average age (26.49) ranks the third-youngest in the NHL. According to Elite Prospects, the Rockford IceHogs have the youngest average age (23.38) in the AHL to start the season. I like that the Blackhawks had their Centennial logo on the right shoulder of their jerseys last night. Of course, that likely means they’re using this as a test run for having a sponsor logo in that spot at some point in the future. But the Centennial logo is a nice touch on the road whites. Luke Fox at Sportsnet wrote about the 28 players he believes will define the 2025-26 NHL season. They weren’t ranked; he listed them alphabetically. Bedard was on the list. Here’s why Fox believes Bedard is significant to watch this season:“The no-brainer No. 1–overall draft choice of 2023, Connor Bedard is still seeking his first 30-goal and 70-point seasons. He’s a minus-80 player through his first 150 pro games. Is that because pundits were too hasty to label the prodigy a generational talent? Because his Chicago Blackhawks are bumbling this prolonged rebuild? A little of Column A and Column B? Not only is Bedard, who made the questionable call to not dress for Canada at the world championships, a definite maybe to make the Olympic cut, he is also entering a critical platform year and is set to turn restricted free agent. How the player and his team treat their upcoming negotiation should tell us what they think of each other. Bedard says he is comfortable dropping the puck without an extension in place.”
I always enjoy Scott Powers’ annual piece asking players why they wear the numbers they have on their backs/sleeves. One thought, though: if Colton Dach was giving up 28, maybe André Burakovsky should have left it alone so the Blackhawks can finally retire it.Why the Blackhawks wear their numbers, 2025-26 edition ⤵️ t.co/OCiXVWtARR
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) October 7, 2025 Blackhawks prospect Adam Gajan got off to a terrific start to his sophomore season at Minnesota-Duluth over the weekend, winning both games. He was named the NCHC Goaltender of the Week for the first weekend of the 2025-26 season.?????????? ?? ??? ????? @UMDMensHockey's Adam GajanGajan paced #theNational with a .951 save % and a 1.00 GAA in a pair of wins over the Nanooks, totaling 39 ? in the sweep! ?♂️?: t.co/1feRlt0742#BulldogCountry // @NHLBlackhawks pic.twitter.com/llkunQhzt1
— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) October 7, 2025 I really like seeing comments like this from folks who focus their efforts on the college level. I didn’t get to watch the entire UMass game but saw a few highlights and Václav Nestrašil looked good.Vaclav Nestrasil (CHI) was one of my freshmen standouts from this past weekend. Like I saw him do many times in Muskegon, he's a menace on the forecheck, quickly turning defense into offense. @UMassHockey t.co/wLBzF4TjWF pic.twitter.com/ogG8bio9Qb
— Ryan Sikes (@rms_hockey) October 7, 2025 For those concerned that Connor McDavid’s contract was going to somehow impact other future UFAs, it looks like that won’t be the case in Winnipeg. Reports overnight and this morning are that the Jets and Kyle Connor have agreed on an eight-year, $96M deal ($12M AAV). Yes, there’s a playoff salary cap this year. But Vegas is already doing their thing. Interesting note here from Elliotte Friedman that the Golden Knights have already formally declared Alex Pietrangelo out for the entire year — regular season and playoffs. So they can spend that money elsewhere without much fear.In submitting their Opening Day roster, Vegas declared future Hall-of-Famer Alex Pietrangelo out for the season and playoffs (with approval of the NHL, NHLPA & player).The Golden Knights are eligible for full cap relief.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 7, 2025BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter
It’s win or go golfing day for the Cubs. How often have teams come back from an 0-2 hole in a 5-game postseason series? Patrick shared his favorite Caleb Williams throws from the first month of the Bears’ season. Did y’all see the rejection by Matas Buzelis in the Bulls’ preseason opener last night?Hence then, the article about the process bedard s line knight dickinson yutes jets pay connor and other blackhawks bullets was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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