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\u2019s efforts \u2014 Friday\u2019s dreadful, illness-ravaged loss to the Washington Capitals and Saturday\u2019s impressive bounce-back shutout of the Nashville Predators \u2014 is this Blackhawks season in microcosm.<\/p>\n
The vibes are high again now, so let\u2019s dive in to a (mostly) positive edition of the power rankings:<\/p>\n
1. Connor Bedard<\/p>\n
Thanks to a four-game win streak toward the end, the Blackhawks managed to mostly tread water in Bedard\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s still far and away the Blackhawks\u2019 best player, and one of the best in the world.<\/p>\n
2. Holiday break<\/p>\n
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\u2019re 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\u2019s a testament to the NHL\u2019s absurd parity this season and to the stellar coaching job Jeff Blashill has done this season. But maybe it\u2019s also a testament to eggnog and sugar cookies. Seriously, what did these guys do over break?<\/p>\n
\u201cSame as everyone else did, I guess,\u201d Connor Murphy said. \u201cCelebrate, eat too much food and come back. It\u2019s fun to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
3. Tyler Bertuzzi<\/p>\n
In the eight games without both Bedard and Frank Nazar, Bertuzzi had six goals and two assists. The Bertuzzi we\u2019re 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 \u2014 Bertuzzi himself has lamented his tendency to go weeks at a time between goal spurts \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
4. Anton Frondell<\/p>\n
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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll see how the next few months play out, but there\u2019s a chance Frondell joins the Blackhawks in March or April.<\/p>\n
5. No more late starts<\/p>\n
The Blackhawks are done with late home starts for the season after last week\u2019s 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\u2019t have any other scheduled late national TV home games. Thank goodness.<\/p>\n
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\u2019re guessing Blackhawks fans wouldn\u2019t mind staying up late for those.<\/p>\n
6. Nick Lardis<\/p>\n
Did you see that shot Lardis took Saturday night? Juuse Saros sure didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
the kids are alright\ud83d\ude0c pic.twitter.com\/d6Ewg13GID<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 11, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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\u2019d have to think Lardis has done enough to not be sent back to AHL Rockford when the Blackhawks get fully health.<\/p>\n 7. The Drew Commesso roller coaster<\/p>\n This weekend may be best known in Chicago sports history for the Bears\u2019 win over the Green Bay Packers<\/a> and the Cubs signing Alex Bregman<\/a>, but Commesso will have a footnote in it. He went from being the Blackhawks\u2019 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\u2019s headed back to Rockford, but he has to be feeling good about his showing.<\/p>\n 8. Norovirus<\/p>\n 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\u2019t complete the weekend sweep despite taking out both Chicago goalies. A middling 1-1 effort for the norovirus. Parity reigns.<\/p>\n 9. Former Predators defensemen<\/p>\n Trades can be fun and exciting for fans \u2014 the Seth Jones for Spencer Knight trade, for example. But there\u2019s nothing too exciting about acquiring dead money. The Blackhawks did it last season with Shea Weber\u2019s deal and did it again last week by acquiring Ryan Ellis\u2019 contract from the San Jose Sharks.<\/p>\n 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\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n 10. Kevin Korchinski<\/p>\n 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\u2019t 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\u2019s probably unfair to put too much stock in the two games, but it\u2019s clear Korchinski can still benefit from time in Rockford.<\/p>\n The good news: He\u2019s still just 21 years old. He and the Blackhawks can afford to be patient. The New York Islanders\u2019 Matthew Schaefer might be wrecking the curve for young defensemen (Artyom Levshunov, too) but it\u2019s always worth remembering that Duncan Keith spent two years in college and two years in the AHL before breaking into the NHL.<\/p>\n 11. Blackhawks in the Olympics<\/p>\n Twelve years ago, the Blackhawks sent a whopping 10 players to Sochi for the Olympics. Next month, only Finland\u2019s Teuvo Ter\u00e4v\u00e4inen will be going (along with goaltending prospect Adam Gajan, who is on Slovakia\u2019s 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<\/a>, maybe his snub isn\u2019t the worst thing.<\/p>\n 12. CHSN<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n