Connor Bedard highlights the official Chicago Blackhawks roster

The Chicago Blackhawks are preparing for another developmental year. However, there are some big things coming this year that separate it from other developmental years. There are a ton of young players in the organization that everyone is really excited about.

On Monday afternoon, the team announced their official opening night roster. It is a group of good veterans and young people trying to make their way into the league.

The forwards are a group of skilled players at the top and some toughness and leadership at the bottom. The defense is all over the place and the goaltenders are familiar to Blackhawks fans. This is what the roster looks like:

Forwards: 

• Andreas Athanasiou
• Connor Bedard
• Jason Dickinson
• Ryan Donato
• Mackenzie Entwistle
• Nick Foligno
• Cole Guttman
• Taylor Hall
• Reese Johnson
• Tyler Johnson
• Boris Katchouk
• Corey Perry
• Taylor Raddysh
• Lukas Reichel

Defenseman: 

• Seth Jones
• Wyatt Kaiser
• Kevin Korchinski
• Connor Murphy
• Jarred Tinordi
• Alex Vlasic
• Nikita Zaitsev

Goaltenders

• Petr Mrazek
• Arvid Soderblom

The Chicago Blackhawks roster is highlighted by Connor Bedard in 2023-24.

Of course, Connor Bedard highlights this entire list. He was the number-one pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and one of the most hyped-up prospects in the history of the NHL. It should be fun to watch him begin his NHL career.

Will he be as good as Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, or Sidney Crosby? We shall see. In year one, they just need to make sure to surround him with the leadership needed to take big steps in the league.

The leaders on this team will be familiar faces in Seth Jones and Connor Murphy. However, they also added guys like Nick Foligno, Corey Perry, and Taylor Hall. All of them have been either captains or Hart Trophy winners on other teams in the past. That will help.

On defense, the most fun names to see there are Kevin Korchinski and Alex Vlasic. Korchinski is going to make his NHL debut in his first game with the Blackhawks and Vlasic has already played a handful of games.

The team would like to see both of them take big steps this year as they are going to be relied on a lot in the coming years as long as they continue to develop.

Goaltending is a question mark for this team. Petr Mrazek is going to be the main guy but that is a tanking tactic. He is not even the second-best goalie in the system.

Arvid Soderblom could be the long-term answer but he has to prove it. He is still very early in his development. The same can be said for Drew Commesso who did not make the roster and has yet to make his NHL debut following an amazing career at Boston University.

Commesso also has a very high ceiling so we will see how it goes with him and Soderblom this year between the NHL and AHL.

If you are expecting this to be a 90+ point team this year, you are going to have a tough time. They might not even be an 80-point team. The best thing that can happen for this Hawks team is Connor Bedard has an amazing rookie season and they have another high draft pick in 2024.

Hockey is back. The Hawks will open with this lineup on Tuesday night when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins over in Western Pennsylvania. Sidney Crosby and Connor Bedard are primed to put on a show here. Get ready because here they come!