I know I’m doing this a lot lately, but it appears I need to get my soapbox out again for a quick Monday morning Ted Talk. Travis Yost, who does really good work at TSN, ranked the “Talent Tiers” for defensemen around the NHL this morning. As you can see from the graphic he tweeted below, he has the Blackhawks in his Tier 4 — near the bottom of the league.
TALENT TIERS: Grading defensive depth charts ? t.co/8OvYqX4bnO pic.twitter.com/KSopvV87B3
My point of contention here: if he called this piece “expected productivity” or “likelihood of dominating” I could be more open to the Blackhawks being as low as they are because of how young they’re expected to be on the back end. But when you’re calling this “TALENT” tiers, the Blackhawks have a collection of guys — headlined by two players with No. 1 potential in Sam Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov — who are incredibly talented (but not fully developed/refined yet). I would argue the Blackhawks’ collection of defensemen could easily be in the upper third of the NHL if ranking based on “TALENT.” Final product — not yet there. But one thing the Blackhawks do not lack on the back end is talent.
With that being said, here’s what Yost wrote about the Blackhawks’ defensive group:
A name worth watching in Chicago? Wyatt Kaiser. In last year’s utterly futile season, Kaiser was a swiss army knife, playing well despite an unrelenting change of pair mates and forwards in front of him. But amidst the challenges, the Blackhawks played to a -1 even strength goal differential in the entirety of Kaiser’s minutes, juxtaposed against a staggering -55 even strength goal differential with Kaiser off the ice. With his first full season behind him, I expect Chicago to put a heavy workload on Kaiser inside of their top-four as they continue through the rebuild.
A marvelous read here from Ben Pope at the Chicago Sun-Times on how Jeff Blashill is looking to open camp running in a few weeks. If you’ve had a seat in the 300 level at any point in the last 20 years, the two favorite words (that I can repeat here in a family-oriented environment) for many fans to yell are “Skate!” and “Shoot!” Based on Pope’s piece, those will be a couple areas of emphasis for the new coaches this year, which is lovely. And, like Ben Johnson with the Bears, Blashill is preaching “winning habits” as he tries to transition a young, talented team into one that starts winning games. This is a really good read from Pope, so please read it. This nugget was important info as well: how Blashill is splitting up the responsibilities with his coaching staff this year:New assistants Michael Peca and Mike Vellucci will oversee the forwards, with Peca also coaching the penalty kill and Vellucci the power play. Anders Sorensen will oversee the defensemen — a role he previously held in Rockford. Long-tenured goalie coach Jimmy Waite retained his position.
Jeff Blashill has spent the summer getting to know his new players.Now he has a plan in mind already for Blackhawks training camp."The first system we’ll implement will be our backchecking track."New story: t.co/rXUr9HvMKm
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) August 10, 2025 Terrific read here from Tracey Myers, who spoke more with Sacha Boisvert about beginning his second college season in a new place. Boisvert, who earned NCHC Freshman of the Year honors at North Dakota last year, is taking his talents to Boston University this fall. He told us during development camp that the decision was made because UND made a coaching change that he wasn’t thrilled about. He’s now in a really good program that has produced a few current Blackhawks. I’m excited to see how his game progresses this year.Blackhawks prospect Boisvert embracing change ahead of 1st year at Boston University t.co/MRiUSlRylq
— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) August 11, 2025 And now this camera angle of a filthy backhand goal from Connor Bedard while training last week.View this post on Instagram
A post shared by INTERACTIVE TRAINING SYSTEM (@kaivohockey)
You know what? It’s Monday, August 11 and there really isn’t any hockey “news” so here’s another ice-level camera angle of Bedard making someone look foolish on the ice this past week.View this post on Instagram
A post shared by INTERACTIVE TRAINING SYSTEM (@kaivohockey)
The Colorado Avalanche released their 30th anniversary logo. So… yeah. That’s something.The Avalanche released their 30th anniversary logo ? pic.twitter.com/2SwvsuKpzB
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) August 10, 2025MORE FROM BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter
The Bears may have settled for a tie in their preseason opener, but there are reasons for optimism. Matt Shaw was the total of the Cubs’ offense again last night.Hence then, the article about chicago s got talent blashill s approach boisvert talks transition to bu 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.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Chicago’s Got Talent, Blashill’s Approach, Boisvert Talks Transition to BU, and Other Blackhawks Bullets )
Also on site :
- Sanju Samson wasn’t confident before T20 World Cup, reveals how much 30-sec hug from Gambhir meant for him
- Cardinals sign LB Jack Gibbens, DL Andrew Billings
- CM Punk Escorted Away After Roman Reigns Gets Personal With AJ Lee Mention & More, Multiple WWE Censors