The Chicago Blackhawks had a handful of players who exceeded expectations during the 2024-25 season.

It is hard for everyone to play well when the team around them isn’t strong you but a few guys found a way. 

3 Blackhawks Who Exceeded Expectations In 2024-25The Chicago Blackhawks didn’t have a winning season in 2024-25. They came in expecting to be much better but they failed to come out of the league’s basement. For a consecutive year, Chicago finished with the second worst record. 

On the flip side, a handful of skaters failed to be the players that the Blackhawks were hoping for when they were brought in.

Some of these men didn’t have bad years necessarily, but they certainly failed to meet expectations. These are the three who will look back at 2024-25 and view it as a lost season:

1. Jason Dickinson

Jason Dickinson was good for the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2023-24 season. He had 22 goals and 13 assists for 35 points in 82 games. Those aren't superstar numbers or anything like that, but a bottom-six forward reaching the 20-goal plateau is always nice. 

Most contending teams have guys playing Dickinson's role who put up numbers like that. The team around Dickinson wasn't great that year, so they had another bottom-three finish. 

It was also his goal-scoring career high by 11, so you can't expect him to do that over and over again. With that said, his drop-off in 2024-25 was significant. He only had 7 goals and 9 assists for 16 points in 59 games played. 

There were some injury issues for Dickinson throughout the year as well, but overall, his performance was not what he (or the Blackhawks) wanted it to be. 

Unless he is traded over the summer, Dickinson will be on the Blackhawks in 2025-26 as his contract has one more year on it. If he plays well, he will likely be traded to a contender, which would be good news for both sides. Everyone would benefit from him bouncing back from this below-expectations 2024-25 season. 

2. Lukas Reichel

Lukas Reichel had a career high in goals (8), assists (14), and points (22) in 2024-25. He also played a career-high 70 games. However, that wasn't enough of a jump for him to be happy with his year. 

Reichel was a first-round pick (17th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft, so the skill and pedigree are there, but he hasn't taken a step into being a true top-six forward. 

If the Blackhawks retain him in the coming years, he likely will have to reverse course and become okay with being a full-time bottom-six player. There is no shame in that, but he will never be a star offensive producer based on what was shown in 2024-25. 

Although he never met the expectations placed on him, there are plenty of players who carved out solid NHL careers despite not being offensive forces as they were drafted to be. 

3. TJ Brodie

TJ Brodie has had a nice NHL career. He spent time with the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs before making his way to Chicago ahead of the 2024-25 season. 

He was brought in to help the young defensemen grow their game, but he did not play well. In 54 games, he contributed two goals and eight assists for ten points.

Brodie has been an offensive contributor in his career, but that is not why he was brought to Chicago in his age-34 season. Being a veteran presence was his role. 

By the end of the year, however, Brodie was a healthy scratch on a nightly basis. Once young studs like Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, Ethan Del Mastro, Kevin Korchinski, and Nolan Allan started getting regular playing time, Brodie was out. 

Connor Murphy was the only veteran Blackhawks defenseman who was getting regular playing time down the stretch. 

When it came to playing in his own end, Brodie was unable to get it done. The Hawks are going to continue looking to get younger, so he can't expect much more playing time with this team. With one year left on his contract, the Blackhawks may be forced to buy him out.

Can any of these three players mentioned bounce back to help the team be better in 2025-26? Dickinson and Reichel are likely to be given the chance, but Brodie may be forced out. Kyle Davidson has some hard decisions to make as he looks to get this team to take another step. 

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