Hawk Thoughts: Bedard, Reichel, and Soderblom
A look at three bright spots in the Blackhawks season so far.
a LOOK AT THREE BRIGHT SPOTS IN THE hAWKS SEASON
There's been a lot of doom and gloom in Chicago sports recently. I mean, more than half of the teams who are in-season you can't even watch on TV. (Get it together CHSN)
For our beloved Blackhawks, it's easy to get frustrated. But, as I always pound to death on my old blog, you're in for a loooong ride if you thought this rebuild was nearly over.
Instead of beating a horse to death, I'm going to look at a few bright spots in the Hawks. There's not a whole lot, but trust me... they're there.
Bedard
Through 15 games Connor Bedard only has 3 goals. Going through X, you might get baited into arguing against a mouth breather claiming that he's a bust.
Sure. He hasn't been scoring and he could certainly shoot the puck more. But there isn't anything to be worried about here.
As of right now (a sunny Friday morning on Nov. 8), Bedard ranks no. 11 in shots on goal with 50. Bedard is also at 28 out of 571 players with at least 100 min. of ice time in shot attempts with 86. His individual expected goals is 5.24, ranked at 36. This is at all-strengths from Natural Stat Trick.
Looking at those numbers alone should tell you that he's ok. The goals will come. In fact, you should be worried if those chances weren't coming. And if you're still not convinced, this 19 year old has 13 points in 15 games.
But that's not why I'm writing about Connor. It's the areas of improvement.
This season, Bedard's 5v5 expected goals against (xGA) is at 11.96, which isn't great. He's faced 1.83 goals against per 60 at 5v5, which is on the lower side for the Hawks. Bedard has also faced 30.04 shots on goal/60, 67.92 shot attempts/60, and 31.87 scoring chances against/60. Those last three numbers aren't great and that might be because he get's hemmed in the zone a lot. But let's compare to last years numbers (yes, 15 games is still a small sample size).
Last season, Bedard had a goals against rate of 3.85/60, 34.97 shots against/60, 69.19 shot attempts/60, 34.34 scoring chances against/60.
It might not look like a big change but all you need to do is use the eye test and you can see the difference. Bedard is better on the back check and he's making better decisions in the DZ.
Reichel
I'm not totally convinced on Lukas Reichel just yet. But I haven't given up on him either.
Reichel's incredibly small sample size of 11 games doesn't paint a complete picture. What we have right now is a young player who's doing very well on the 4th line.
But you can't deny that he's looked good.
Every game it seems like he gets a little more aggressive and confident in himself. It's not quick flashes of talent followed by nothing, which is what we saw last year. Other than displaying his speed (and boy does he have wheels), he's been driving to the net and getting involved in puck battles more frequently.
Of course, you would love to see this kid pan out as a top-6 forward, which is what he's been advertised as. But if he's a bottom-6 player, I'm ok with that. At least for now. All through last season I was pretty adamant that this kid won't have a place in the NHL if he can't develop into a top-6 player.
Defensively, he seems slightly more responsible. The numbers don't paint a pretty picture. 4.81 DZ starts per 60, 36.38 scoring chances against/60, and a team low xG% of 34.20.
But there's a little hope here. 6 points in 11 games isn't awesome, but he doesn't look like the same Reichel from last year.
Soderblom
I can't believe I'm saying this, Arvid Soderblom has looked good.
Last nights game against the Dallas Stars could have been much worse if this was the Soderblom from last year.
He's looked much more sound in net and his rebound control has been a lot better. With only 4 games under his belt, Soderblom has a 2.27 GAA and a .933 SV%. Both better than Petr Mrazek who has a 3.02 GAA and an .898 SV%.
Arvid's high danger SV% isn't bad either at .842. Mrazek has a .747 HDSV%. Soderblom also has a 4.6 Goals Saved Above Expected. Mrazek, a 0.4.
Again, it's only been 4 games and it's most likely the last time we see Arvid if Laurent Brossoit gets healthy. But you have to be encouraged by his performance.
Blog Updates
Just a quick little update on things. This is the first post on the new website and it's mostly a test post. Not sure if I'll even add this to my Substack just yet.
Working on getting the newsletter set up amongst other things. If you liked what you read, head on over to my Substack where I'll be sending out these posts there until I can get this beast up and running.
Other than that, I'll continue writing and posting here.
Out.
All stats are from Natural Stat Trick or Money Puck