There are many reasons why the Blackhawks have struggled to score, but a major and perhaps overlooked one is that their defensemen have contributed virtually nothing.
Seth Jones and Kevin Korchinski share the team lead among defensemen at three goals apiece, which puts them in a tie for 99th leaguewide. Alex Vlasic, Connor Murphy and Nikita Zaitsev each have chipped in two goals. Jarred Tinordi, Jaycob Megna, Isaak Phillips, Louis Crevier, Wyatt Kaiser and Filip Roos have not scored.
That adds up to a grand total of 12 goals from the Hawks’ entire defensive corps through 65 games. Seven defensemen around the NHL have single-handedly exceeded that number — a group led by the Avalanche’s Cale Makar with 17 goals.
Many factors have contributed to the dire situation. The fact that 11 defensemen have logged games — and none has played in all 65 — is one big element. Injuries have created all sorts of turbulence within the lineup.
Another key: Six of those defensemen are de facto rookies without much NHL experience.
Jones being inaccurate and unlucky is a third big factor. He has taken the second-most shots on the team (behind only Connor Bedard), but only 45.0% have made it on goal (his lowest rate since 2015-16), and of those shots on goal, only 2.3% have gone in (also his lowest rate since 2015-16).
With only 17 games left, the most encouraging way to view the situation is through the lens that the Hawks’ defense should look significantly different next season.
The placeholder veterans — Zaitsev, Tinordi and Megna — are pending free agents. Korchinski, whose lack of production — as a 19-year-old thrown into the fire — has been disappointing but not too surprising, will have a valuable additional year of experience. So will Kaiser, another guy with offensive upside, after spending the second half of the season developing in Rockford.
Digging deeper, though, reveals some encouraging signs even in the present situation. Over the last few weeks, Hawks defensemen finally have been getting more involved offensively.
They have averaged 18.7 shots per game since Feb. 16, the most in any 11-game stretch. They’ve reached the 20-shot threshold in three of the last four games, and their 25 shots in the 7-4 victory Sunday against the Coyotes were their most since Jan. 16.
Coach Luke Richardson said that has been part of the game plan “for a while” since the Hawks have been emphasizing more low-to-high puck movement within the offensive zone.
“If we can, we’d love to get it to the net [down low],” Richardson said. “There was one time [Bedard] drove the net out of the corner in the first period [Sunday] and almost tucked one in. But if it’s not there, a lot of teams collapse. If you can go low-to-high, we’re trying to [encourage] the ‘D’ — if they’re on their forehand — to shoot right away before people get in their [shooting] lanes. In the second period, we had a couple of really nice shot-tips that the goalie had to make a save on from the slot.
“That’s going to just benefit us even more. If we can spread [the defending team] out even more, maybe our three forwards down low can pick them apart a little bit, as well.”
That tactical adjustment hasn’t led to more actual production by defensemen. Jones is the only one to score in the last 11 games, and one of his two goals was an empty-netter. But it wouldn’t be shocking if that dam broke soon.
