Chicago Blackhawks have to root for this team in the playoffs

The Chicago Blackhawks are not going to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They were very bad in 2021 as they finished with a record of 28-42-12 for 68 standings points. That was the third-worst record in the Western Conference and the sixth-worst record in the National Hockey League.

The only reason they weren’t even worse than that was that they had Marc-Andre Fleury as their main goaltender from the start of the season until the trade deadline. It is nice to have the reigning Vezina Trophy winner as you you have a chance to win even if your team is bad.

They traded him to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a 2022 second-round pick. However, that second-round pick can become a first-round pick if the Wild make it to the Western Conference Finals and Fleury earns at least half of the wins.

It is easy for Blackhawks fans to pick the Wild as the team that they are rooting for during the 2022 playoffs. It is a chance to continue rooting on Marc-Andre Fleury and get the Blackhawks back into the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft.

The Chicago Blackhawks might be rooting for the Minnesota Wild to go far.

Of course, the Hawks are not currently in the first round of the draft as they traded that pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Seth Jones. However, if the Hawks win the lottery, they keep the pick and Columbus gets their 2023 first-round pick.

The Wild are going up against the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the playoffs. Blackhawks fans will have no problem cheering against the Blues as they are currently their biggest rival in the Western Conference.

The Wild have home ice as they finished with four more points than St. Louis. They had a lot of tremendous battles against one another this season and fighting for home ice was intense all year long. The Wild prevailed.

Of course, the Colorado Avalanche won the division outright. They only won it over the Wild by six points which shows how good Minnesota actually is. They do have a really nice chance to reach the conference finals and give the Hawks their pick.

All hockey fans should be watching the playoffs a lot. The first-round matchups in both conferences are very good across the entire league. It is a shame that the Hawks won’t be a part of it this year but it is going to take a long time for them to be good enough for that again. Landing an extra first-round pick might really help.