With the Chicago Blackhawks remaining stagnant in second-to-last place in the NHL with less than a month to go on the season, it’s easy to see why constant change would be a theme for the squad. Trying to find new solutions to get the team in the win column more frequently to close out the year has been what interim head coach Anders Sorensen has been all over as of late.
The organization has plenty of young talent that has reached the NHL level this year, but the difficulty for the coaching staff has been finding the right combinations to make things run as smoothly as possible. Based on how everything has gone throughout the campaign, none of the lines have worked consistently for the Blackhawks.
The Chicago Blackhawks have had too many line changes this year
There was a point in the season where Chicago brought out different looking forward lines in 36 consecutive games. While it’s completely understandable for things to be shaken up in order to find consistent success, there can be such thing as too much shuffling. The biggest challenge has been trying to figure out which veterans to pair with franchise cornerstone Connor Bedard.
Frank Nazar has seen tremendous growth in his game since the calendar turned to 2025. One constant thing that the Blackhawks coaching staff has tried to do with making the lines down the stretch is to have him and Bedard be together at all times.
The latest combination for Nazar and Bedard has been putting veteran Ryan Donato on their wing. The three haven’t spent much time together this season, but Donato’s scoring success in a career year throughout the season could make the transition seamless. The veteran has 25 goals and 30 assists through 70 games this season.
Getting guys like Nazar and Bedard in rhythm is more important than anything. It is good that the coaching staff has settled on the idea that them playing together is a good thing, but the third member of their line needs to stay as consistent as possible heading into the last 10 games of the season. If both youngsters can get on a scoring roll to close out the year, it would provide a ton of positive momentum heading into the summer toward each of their training regiments back home.
These line changes have been apparent no matter who is coaching
Regardless of who has been calling the shots behind the bench this year, these line changes haven’t stopped at any moment. Luke Richardson was arguably worse with staying consistent with keeping certain forwards together and that didn’t make things easy with him being a defensive minded head coach.
While Sorensen has jumbled up the lines a fair share of times as well, his changes have been more consistent with who is playing together. While not all three guys on each line have remained the same throughout his tenure as the interim head coach, he has at least tried to keep players paired up as much as possible. He has also done a good job at keeping other young guys besides Bedard and Nazar in the fold while giving them opportunities in bigger roles.
Chicago Blackhawks interim head coach frustrated on lack of calls for Connor Bedard
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