The youth movement that made it to the Chicago Blackhawks roster toward the end of the season was exciting to watch, but select veterans put together solid years to keep the team afloat in the beginning. This year marked the first true crossover in the organization’s rebuild.
Last season consisted of mostly fringe NHL level players getting an opportunity with the Blackhawks to mix in with a handful of veterans and young talent. Fast forward to this most recent year where general manager Kyle Davidson made a surplus of free agent acquisitions in the offseason to have better depth overall within the organization. The expectations in Chicago were higher entering this most recent season than in years past, but it was still known that they were not going to be all that competitive.
With things going south for Chicago right around the time of their tough loss in the Winter Classic, the lineup was shuffled more frequently by interim head coach Anders Sorensen and it lead to a little more success. This came at a cost, as multiple veterans lost partial ice time with all of the young faces getting called up toward the end of the year. However, a few veterans enjoyed solid seasons in the Windy City. This includes a 2015 Stanley Cup Champion that was brought back as a big free agent signing last summer.
Teuvo Teravainen had a quietly good first season back in Chicago
Teuvo Teravainen agreed to a three-year deal with the Blackhawks last summer worth $5.4 million per season. He was the 18th overall pick of the franchise in the 2012 draft and was a member of the last Chicago team to hoist a Stanley Cup back in 2015.
After the 2015-16 season, Teravainen spent the next eight seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes where he scored over 20 goals in a year four different times. This includes his single-season high of 25 times that he lit the lamp a season prior to his return to Chicago.
Teravainen was the definition of consistent this past year. He played in all 82 games and was a top-six forward for most of them. The 30-year-old quietly put up a great scoring season, as he finished third on the team in points with 58, and second in assists with 43. He trailed only Connor Bedard in the assist department, who completed the season with 44 helpers. Teravainen and fellow veteran Tyler Bertuzzi got in a good grove with Frank Nazar toward the end of the season, so it will be interesting to see if that line stays intact heading into next year.
The Chicago Blackhawks can lean on Teravainen and others next year
Due to Teravainen’s consistent production and chemistry with other forwards in Chicago’s top six, the organization can continue to rely on him down the road. He is obviously being paid a good amount to fill this role and help the front office hit the salary floor, but he shouldn’t be in the same department as other veterans on the roster who might not be back next season.
Teravainen, Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno are veterans that should have guaranteed spots in the forward group moving into camp at the end of the summer. Everything else could be up for grabs between the younger players that just got their feet wet at the NHL level this season and a select few veterans who have been around for a couple of years.
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