Looking back on the Blackhawks 2021-22 opening night roster
By Jim Lynch
A lot can change in one season, and the Chicago Blackhawks are proof of that. A year ago, this team was trying to push for another championship with Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and newcomer Seth Jones. Now a year later, this team has a new coach, general manager and a lot of new faces.
The Chicago Blackhawks started the 2021-22 season expecting to be in the mix for the playoffs.
Their lineup looked significantly better than what Hawks fans had seen the previous few seasons, and it looked like the Hawks were destined to get back into the playoffs. A lot changes when you start the year with zero wins in the entire month of October.
So without further ado here is what the lineup looked like last season on opening night via NHL.com:
DeBrincat – Johnson – Kane
Kubalik – Toews – Kurashev
Borgstrom – Dach – Hagel
Khaira – Entwistle – Carpenter
de Haan – Jones
McCabe – Murphy
Stillman – Mitchell
Fleury
Lankinen
Head Coach: Jeremy Colliton
General Manager: Stan Bowman
Players scratched: Dylan Strome, Adam Gaudette and Erik Gustafsson
Players in bold indicate players still on the Blackhawks roster.
Caleb Jones started the season out with an injury otherwise he would have been on the roster and included amongst the bolded players. Although he does not have a contract for next season just yet.
Wow has the Blackhawks roster changed a lot in one season? Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome and Kirby Dach are all gone. Both goaltenders are off the roster and the coach and general manager.
This team has been through a lot of changes in one calendar year. When this upcoming season kicks off there is going to be a strong chance that fans will have a hard time learning some of the new players’ numbers and names.
The Blackhawks still have Toews and Kane but besides that a lot of the fan favorites amongst the forward group are all gone. Watching a guy like DeBrincat play for Ottawa or Kubalik in Detroit is going to be hard.
The Blackhawks are going to be rebuilding this roster for the next handful of seasons, and looking back on this roster is proof of that. This team has been torn down pretty well the past year, and who knows if we will see more players from this group added to the list of players traded away from the organization.
So what now?
The Blackhawks will have a young roster when the 2022-23 season kicks off. Guys like Lukas Reichel, Mackenzie Entwistle, Mike Hardman, and Philipp Kurashev will get bigger roles with the team than they would have if the Hawks had kept some of the other players mentioned above.
Hawks fans will still have Toews and Kane to cheer on, and the team may have some future core pieces getting introduced to the NHL. There is still a lot to watch for this upcoming season. Once the lineup is set for the 2022-23 season, it will be fun to imagine who from that group will still be here when the next season comes around.