It seems like every time we update our Chicago Blackhawks power rankings, the team is either hurtling toward the draft lottery or surging into the playoffs. Heck, this weekend’s efforts — Friday’s dreadful, illness-ravaged loss to the Washington Capitals and Saturday’s impressive bounce-back shutout of the Nashville Predators — is this Blackhawks season in microcosm.

The vibes are high again now, so let’s dive in to a (mostly) positive edition of the power rankings:

1. Connor Bedard

Thanks to a four-game win streak toward the end, the Blackhawks managed to mostly tread water in Bedard’s absence. But from the moment he stepped on the ice Friday night, it was clear what they had been missing. Bedard is so much more dangerous with the puck on his stick than any other Blackhawks player, and the team plays at a different pace with him on the ice.

He might have been a little rusty against Washington, but he was dynamic in Nashville, with two beautiful primary assists for Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Lardis. It was his 14th multi-point effort in 33 games this season. Bedard might not be taking faceoffs for a while, but he’s still far and away the Blackhawks’ best player, and one of the best in the world.

2. Holiday break

The Blackhawks entered the three-day break on a six-game losing streak, last in the league, with their top two centers out indefinitely. Two weeks later, they’re three points out of a playoff spot thanks to a 6-2-1 stretch, with wins over Washington, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Dallas Stars (two). It’s a testament to the NHL’s absurd parity this season and to the stellar coaching job Jeff Blashill has done this season. But maybe it’s also a testament to eggnog and sugar cookies. Seriously, what did these guys do over break?

“Same as everyone else did, I guess,” Connor Murphy said. “Celebrate, eat too much food and come back. It’s fun to see.”

3. Tyler Bertuzzi

In the eight games without both Bedard and Frank Nazar, Bertuzzi had six goals and two assists. The Bertuzzi we’re seeing this season is different from the one we saw last season. A year ago, he had 23 goals in 82 games. This season, he has 23 goals in 42 games. Though known as a streaky scorer — Bertuzzi himself has lamented his tendency to go weeks at a time between goal spurts — he has been a model of consistency, and his relentless effort around the net and on the forecheck has dragged the often-overmatched Blackhawks into the fight more often than not. When Blashill talked so glowingly during training camp about Bertuzzi (whom he also coached in Detroit) and his work ethic, dedication and consistency, it was as if he was talking about someone else. Not anymore.

4. Anton Frondell

Some Blackhawks fans probably got to see Frondell play for the first time recently as he joined Sweden for the World Junior Championship in Minnesota. Frondell didn’t disappoint. He had five goals and three assists in seven games while helping Sweden to the gold medal. He was named the forward of the tournament.

We’ll see how the next few months play out, but there’s a chance Frondell joins the Blackhawks in March or April.

5. No more late starts

The Blackhawks are done with late home starts for the season after last week’s 8:55 p.m. (CT) puck drop against the St. Louis Blues. The team will go out west again, so you will have those late starts, but we don’t have any other scheduled late national TV home games. Thank goodness.

Well, unless they make the playoffs, that is. The league and its television partners do seem to think the Central Division is located entirely west of the Rockies. But we’re guessing Blackhawks fans wouldn’t mind staying up late for those.

6. Nick Lardis

Did you see that shot Lardis took Saturday night? Juuse Saros sure didn’t.

the kids are alright😌 pic.twitter.com/d6Ewg13GID

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 11, 2026

Lardis is putting to rest any questions about whether his scoring ability would transfer to the NHL as it had at every other level. Through 14 games, he’s behind only Bertuzzi and Bedard in goals per 60 minutes and behind only Bedard in shots per 60 minutes. Getting ice time with Bedard is going to help, too, as they showed hooking up for a goal Saturday. You’d have to think Lardis has done enough to not be sent back to AHL Rockford when the Blackhawks get fully health.

7. The Drew Commesso roller coaster

This weekend may be best known in Chicago sports history for the Bears’ win over the Green Bay Packers and the Cubs signing Alex Bregman, but Commesso will have a footnote in it. He went from being the Blackhawks’ emergency starting goalie Friday and allowing five goals in a home loss to making a second consecutive start Saturday and recording his first NHL win and shutout by making 36 saves in a road win. He’s headed back to Rockford, but he has to be feeling good about his showing.

8. Norovirus

Or whatever the stomach bug that ravaged the Blackhawks dressing room was. It rolled to a dominant victory over the Blackhawks on Friday but couldn’t complete the weekend sweep despite taking out both Chicago goalies. A middling 1-1 effort for the norovirus. Parity reigns.

9. Former Predators defensemen

Trades can be fun and exciting for fans — the Seth Jones for Spencer Knight trade, for example. But there’s nothing too exciting about acquiring dead money. The Blackhawks did it last season with Shea Weber’s deal and did it again last week by acquiring Ryan Ellis’ contract from the San Jose Sharks.

They were necessary trades for Kyle Davidson to reach the cap floor while continuing to fill up the roster with young players (and to free up goalie Laurent Brossoit to get playing time elsewhere), but they’re clearly not going to move the needle much. A pair of fans has to put up the money to buy customized Weber and Ellis Blackhawks jerseys and show up to a game, right? They are the two highest-paid players on the team, after all.

10. Kevin Korchinski

Korchinski came up Friday along with Commesso to fill in with all the illness. He was better in his second game than his first, but his arrival didn’t instill much confidence in the trajectory of his development. For the two games with him on the ice at five-on-five, opponents led 29-13 in shot attempts, 20-8 in shots on goal, 16-6 in scoring chances, 12-3 in high-danger chances and 3-1 in goals, according to Natural Stat Trick. It’s probably unfair to put too much stock in the two games, but it’s clear Korchinski can still benefit from time in Rockford.

The good news: He’s still just 21 years old. He and the Blackhawks can afford to be patient. The New York Islanders’ Matthew Schaefer might be wrecking the curve for young defensemen (Artyom Levshunov, too) but it’s always worth remembering that Duncan Keith spent two years in college and two years in the AHL before breaking into the NHL.

11. Blackhawks in the Olympics

Twelve years ago, the Blackhawks sent a whopping 10 players to Sochi for the Olympics. Next month, only Finland’s Teuvo Teräväinen will be going (along with goaltending prospect Adam Gajan, who is on Slovakia’s roster). The Tampa Bay Lightning lead the way with 10 this time around. The only other NHL team with just one Olympian is the New York Islanders. Bedard surely belongs on Team Canada, but given how the arena situation in Milan is unfolding, maybe his snub isn’t the worst thing.

12. CHSN

With the Bears playing their biggest and most exciting game in more than a decade at the same time, only the true sickos were watching the Nashville game. The Venn diagram of people who watched that game and who made it this far down into these power rankings is probably a circle. And we salute you.