There had to be changes to the Chicago Blackhawks and by all accounts, general manager Kyle Davidson did a great job in strengthening the roster and making it much more competitive. To do that, a number of players had to be moved or let go to create room for new talent that was signed or acquired through a trade.
While a popular conversation may be who was the best addition to the Blackhawks this offseason, what the focus here is who is the biggest loss Chicago suffered when moving on from all the players that they did?
The list of notable players that left the Blackhawks are as follows: Tyler Johnson (UFA), Taylor Raddysh (Washington Capitals), Colin Blackwell (Dallas Stars), Mackenzie Entwistle (Florida Panthers), Jarred Tinordi (UFA), Nikita Zaitsev (SKA St. Petersburg), Jaycob Megna (Florida Panthers).
Last season, every one of these players became depth pieces on a thin team. They were and out of the lineup, except for Johnson and Blackwell when the two were healthy.
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Raddysh had a breakout season offensively in 2022-23 and it brought much higher expectations for the winger last season. He didn’t live up to those expectations one bit, slowly receiving less ice time, falling down the lineup, and even being a healthy scratch at times. He didn’t score a goal from the first half of December until the end of the season, spanning 44 games.
Raddysh only had five goals and 14 points in 73 games after scoring 20 goals and 37 points for the Blackhawks in 2022-23. He seemed like a solid young up-and-coming winger. But Raddysh lost a lot of value over the course of the past season and lost favor in Chicago. I don’t know if he would’ve been able to rebound from that very poor season in the Chicago lineup, but he does get a chance in the Capitals’ lineup next season.
In the end, the Blackhawks chose to not even qualify him and added a lot of forwards that have a much better proven track record with consistency in the NHL.
Johnson was a Blackhawks’ everyday player last season and scored 17 goals and 31 points in 67 games. He is still a solid bottom-6 player, but did have to play more than he regularly would have at this point in his career if Chicago had been deeper.
Unlike Raddysh, Johnson chose to depart the Blackhawks after he felt like he really needed to get back to playing playoff games. As the Blackhawks got a lot better on paper after eight free agent adds and one trade acquisition, Johnson is still without a team and there’s slim pickings. He played 177 minutes on the power play and spent no time on the penalty kill despite the two-way ability he has shown in his career.
Johnson’s overall game and the fact that he was an everyday player that is now gone is a clear sign at who the Blackhawks will miss the most and is their biggest offseason loss.
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