The Chicago Blackhawks are one of 16 teams that missed the playoffs in 2023-24. They not only missed, the team missed by a wide margin and finished second-last in the league with only 23 wins and 52 points.

There were a lot of changes in the offseason to not only the Blackhawks, but a number of the other teams that also missed the playoffs last season. Some will make big jumps and get into the playoffs or come close, a number of teams will be on the bubble again, and others will sink or stay at the bottom of the league. In comparison to the other 15 teams that missed playoffs in 2023-24, let’s dive into where the Blackhawks rank among them.

Will Make Playoffs

Before getting into the group where Chicago finds itself, there is realistically only one clear choice for a playoff lock next season, the New Jersey Devils. The Blackhawks and some other teams made some strong additions, but the Devils added elite starting goalie Jacob Markstrom, Brett Pesce, and Brenden Dillon to help keep pucks out.

As this and health were the biggest problems for the Devils and not their scoring, not much more was needed. They are all solid pieces and will make a difference.

On the Playoff Bubble

The Blackhawks find themselves in the group that may or may not make the playoffs next season, depending on what goes right. Along with the Blackhawks, I believe the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Seattle Kraken, St. Louis Blues, and Utah HC all belong here too.

Chicago added Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen, Ilya Mikheyev, TJ Brodie, Alec Martinez, Laurent Brossoit, Pat Maroon, Craig Smith, have Taylor Hall healthy and ready to go, and a ton of talented young players fighting to break through. None of these additions won’t make a difference, even fourth line players Maroon and Smith. The Blackhawks are deep and brought in a lot of extra scoring and players who can help keep the puck out of their own net.

The Sabres, Red Wings, and Senators are three teams that should have taken a step into the playoffs last season, but all fell short. The Red Wings looked the most promising as they came the closest and were in the race the whole way. The team also added some solid talent to help push them over the hump. All three of these Atlantic Division teams have rebuilt for long enough and any or all of them could make the playoffs with the right bounces.

The Penguins, Wild, and Blues were all in the race the entire year last season, but just didn’t have enough to make it into the playoffs. The Penguins have the most talent with Sidney Crosby and company, but are the oldest team in the league. There were really no major upgrades from any of them, so the weight is on the players that are still on each team to get it done.

Utah is a bit of a different situation and even though they made waves on the second day of the draft, it doesn’t feel like nearly enough. With the additions of Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino, the defense is looking very nice, but the team will still be greatly outmatched at center. The Kraken added Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson, but that too won’t be enough. The team won games with great depth two years ago. The depth still doesn’t seem like it can match up and the Kraken are without stars.

If the Blackhawks are going to make a massive jump and get into a playoff spot next season, they will not only have to outcompete bubble teams like the Wild, Blues, Utah, and the Kraken, but also knock out one of the eight teams that appeared in the postseason last season. Some got worse, but some got much better.

No Playoffs in 2025

There are six teams I am confident the Blackhawks will finish ahead of in 2024-25. Three of them come from the Western Conference in the Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, and San Jose Sharks. All three of these teams are rebuilding and Calgary is the latest to be added to this group.

While the Blackhawks made many great additions, San Jose was the only other bottom-feeder that really put in an effort, adding a lot of solid pieces as well. The Sharks are still a step behind the Blackhawks, so I expect San Jose to still be amongst the bottom three to four teams in the NHL next season.

Anaheim and Calgary sat on their hands for the most part. There were some more minor additions, but nothing game-changing or would help pull them out of the rebuild either are in.

From the East, the Columbus Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens, and Philadelphia Flyers should be amongst some of the worst in the league. The Blue Jackets are still very young and inexperienced. They seem to be stuck in a perpetual rebuild. The Flyers outperformed expectations and are still going to struggle overall. There aren’t any stars there right now, just a lot of hard-working players. As for Montreal, they are still very young too, and even though they should be looking to take a step forward, the best is still to come and they have time.

Whether the Blackhawks make the playoffs or not, moving up the standings and heading in the right direction is what should be expected of this group. They look better than a number of other non-playoff teams from last season already. With talent like Connor Bedard and company, it’s a matter of time before Chicago is back in the mix.