Blackhawks Bits: News and notes from Thursday’s exit interviews
With the 2024-25 Blackhawks season officially in the books, the team returned for one final round of media sessions on Thursday before departing to various parts of the world to begin the offseason.
We’ll start this round of updates with comments from Connor Bedard, who addressed some of the nonsense swirling around the internet about him possibly being unhappy in Chicago:
Bedard was then asked if the speculation about him wanting to leave Chicago bothers him:"If I look a little sad on the bench, maybe people take it out of context… People that know me know I love to be here and really trust the direction we're going. Hey, if you get the first…— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 17, 2025
So we can be done with all of that now. Thanks, Connor. As for actual hockey things, Bedard said he’s opening to add a little more pace to his game this summer:
Connor Bedard said the biggest area of focus for him this summer will be speed and acceleration: “I don’t think I’m slow but probably kind of average speed. I’m not ever going to be MacKinnon or McDavid or anyone like that, but if I can gain another step, it puts guys on their…— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) April 17, 2025
Alex Vlasic said that he’s not quite done playing hockey this season:
Alex Vlasic confirmed he will represent Team USA at the 2025 IIHF World Championships for the second straight year. #Blackhawks— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) April 17, 2025
Lukas Reichel has a new offseason plan that he hopes will lead to improvement with how he handles the puck in high-traffic portions of the ice:
Lukas Reichel will work with a personal skills coach for the first time this summer.They'll focus on tight areas like near the boards: "Picking up pucks and making the play right after, and get a good position on the boards so I don't get hit or pinched off and lose the puck."— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 17, 2025
Ryan Donato was the subject of trade speculation at the deadline back in March before ultimately sticking with Chicago for the rest of the season. He’s now an unrestricted free agent, although he continues to leave the door open for a future with the Blackhawks:
Ryan Donato said contract negotiations between him and the Blackhawks "got close" around the trade deadline but didn't come to an agreement.He would still like to work out a contract this summer. Stability (so term) is a priority: "It's definitely nice, the idea of being in a…— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 17, 2025
Speaking of futures in Chicago, Spencer Knight’s will likely not involve the real estate industry:
Spencer Knight had us dying at his description of his Chicago housing search."There's a train next to one apartment. I don't like that. That's weird. Why are they above ground and so loud all the time?"— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 17, 2025
Connor Murphy lamented the team’s massive letdown at the Winter Classic this season while pointing to the recent trend of subpar seasons across the entire Chicago sports landscape:
Connor Murphy: "It's been some tough days, this year specifically. I feel like the Winter Classic was a really hard one that almost still hurts, just because of the magnitude of the game. We got that big platform."In general, Chicago sports haven't been successful, and you feel…— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 17, 2025
Shifting the focus to GM Kyle Davidson’s media time, he addressed the now-open head coach position on the team with Anders Sorensen’s interim tag expiring at the end of the regular season. But that search doesn’t appear to have too much of a rush applied to it:
Davidson says the Blackhawks would like to have a head coach hired much earlier in the offseason than they did in 2022, when they hired Richardson in mid-June. But they haven’t done any official interviews yet.— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 17, 2025
As for offseason additions, Davidson offered the following thoughts, which feels like some level of acknowledgement that the collective performance from last year’s free-agent class fell shy of expectations while also suggesting that there won’t be quite as many veteran bodies added to the roster just to eat up minutes next season:
Davidson said they’ll be more selective this offseason in their roster additions.— Scott Powers (@scottpowers.bsky.social) April 17, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Kyle Davidson said the season wasn’t what they were hoping but the finish to the year was incredibly positive and encouraging He acknowledged the veteran-led roster to begin the year didn’t click and didn’t work, thus coaching changes and roster changes were made pic.twitter.com/qikn7neygK— CHGO Blackhawks (@CHGO_Blackhawks) April 17, 2025
In general, though, Davidson shared optimism regarding the seasons ahead, pointing to what unfolded over the final month of this season:
Davidson: "I feel like at the end of the day standing here now that we feel like we’re in a good spot moving forward. I don’t know how sitting in my seat I can’t be optimistic where we’re headed given what we saw the towards the back part of the season."— Scott Powers (@scottpowers.bsky.social) April 17, 2025 at 1:58 PM
In prospect news, Nick Lardis recently went down with a lower-body injury and Davidson’s update on that was not encouraging:
I should clarify that doesn't sound great to me. Kyle didn't say that part.— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 17, 2025
Elsewhere, 2022 sixth-round pick Dominic James (173rd overall) is yet to sign with the team and it appears he may not end up signing at all:
Davidson said Dominic James is likely to explore other options and become a UFA on Aug. 15. Said he is still open to signing him if he changes his mind.— Scott Powers (@scottpowers.bsky.social) April 17, 2025 at 1:27 PM
And, one final note from well outside of Chicago: old friend Marcus Kruger has been playing hockey back in his native Sweden this season and is going to retire at the end of it. The home fans honored him with an amazing tribute:
Marcus Krüger getting the Ivan Drago treatment in Stockholm today. This is incredible. https://t.co/Ux7dNxxR4A— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) April 17, 2025 ...
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