During the Blackhawks dynasty of the 2010s, the Florida Panthers were often a bad hockey or irrelevant team. Yeah, they won a couple of division titles, only to lose in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And next to those two division wins in 2012 and 2016, the Panthers never made the postseason, nor did anyone in the NHL universe give them much thought.
I often joke that, in the MLB, when someone talks about the Tampa Bay Rays and/or Miami Marlins, I respond with, “Who?” That was my joke about the Panthers during those years when they rarely made the postseason. And when they broke through to the playoffs, they couldn’t win a playoff series.
Once upon a time, I was playing NHL ‘10, or maybe it was NHL ‘11, and I was in career mode. The Panthers drafted me and I was like, “Oh, great…” Note my sarcasm. In those days, the Hawks dynasty was brewing, and the Panthers would’ve done well to take cues from one of the league’s most historic teams.
Now, the Hawks would do well to take cues from the Panthers
Heading into the now-completed 2024-25 season, I was sure the Hawks had more to offer, and they proved me wrong. I saw Connor Bedard transforming into a point-per-game player, and he proved me wrong. I saw Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi as valuable assets who would help turn around the Hawks fortunes. And they both proved me wrong,even if they weren’t bad.
Instead, the Hawks barely improved, and for a while, they looked like a team that regressed. Between 2010 and 2014, the Panthers, sans their successful 2012 season, looked like they were in the same situation.
No, it wasn’t as dire as what we’ve seen from the Hawks, but the Panthers didn’t start getting relevant until 2015-16. And even then, they couldn’t consistently punch their way into the playoffs. So what changed? Florida started adding more players from outside the organization, and that’s what the Blackhawks need once they solidify their core.
Blackhawks need to play the long game, but must have a plan in place
I’m glad to see the direction general manager Kyle Davidson’s taking the Blackhawks. He needs to build this team’s core, make some smart trades, and make it look respectable for players who could sign with the team in later seasons or arrive via trade.
When the Panthers started getting more consistent, starting with the 2019-20 season, we saw players wanting to go there, and it culminated with blockbuster deals for guys like Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart. That’s the direction the Hawks must go if they plan on building this thing faster.
Yeah, it’s at least a year, maybe two years off. Work your way into the 75-80-point range this season, and in 2026-27, jump up into the 85-90-point range. Both major leaps in improvement will attract better players to the Windy City, and if the Hawks make the playoffs in 2027-28, they’ll snag big names in blockbuster deals.
At that point, there’s a good chance they’ll find themselves threatening to return to the apex of the NHL universe. Yeah, it’s a process, but the Panthers just gave the Hawks and the rest of the league a blueprint to follow.
