The Blackhawks beating the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night felt significant. Not because the team with the worst record in the league beat one of the more talented, hotter teams in the NHL. But it was how they won the game — and who impacted the game.

Connor Bedard got the headlines, and for good reason. He was flying all over the ice. His tenacious forecheck created the loose puck that turned into the first goal of the night. He crashed the net and appeared to score a go-ahead goal (that was taken off the board because he kicked it in), and later came back and ripped a nasty shot to give the Blackhawks some breathing room. He was really good last night.

But for so much of his now 1.5 years in the NHL, Bedard has seemed to be doing these things in a vacuum. He’s been alone in the category of exciting, young player in a Blackhawks sweater. That wasn’t the case on Wednesday night.

The game-winning goal came off the stick of Frank Nazar, who had a spectacular night. He was dynamic in every zone, played smart defensively, was strong at the dot and created chances for himself and his linemates.

The primary assist on Nazar’s goal came from Colton Dach, his first career NHL point. Dach was also good last night, making an impact in only 11 minutes of ice time.

NHL GameScore Impact Card for Chicago Blackhawks on 2025-01-08: pic.twitter.com/b9c4hH93ci

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Before this season started when Blackhawks general manager met with the media, he was asked about the volume of veterans he signed over the summer and if it was going to be hard for young players to get a shot at the NHL. His response was that the organization wants young players to be truly ready to come up and consistently make an impact in the NHL. And, when prospects showed that in Rockford, the organization would make room for them.

Nazar and Dach are two of the young pieces who are viewed as the first forwards in the next wave of the rebuild to be NHL contributors. Dach appeared in 78 games in the AHL before getting the call to the NHL. Nazar spent two years at Michigan, albeit the first of which was limited because of injury, before getting a taste of the NHL at the end of last year. He played in 21 games for the IceHogs before coming to Chicago this year.

Injuries have afforded the Blackhawks more runway with some young defensemen this season, and they have responded well. Nolan Allan has now appeared in 34 games this season, which ranks fourth among Blackhawks defensemen. Wyatt Kaiser has played in 31 (with a four-game dip to Rockford). Louis Crevier has now appeared in 12 games. And Kevin Korchinski got called up for a nine-game run before heading back to Rockford.

Having Nazar and Dach on the NHL roster right now means the Blackhawks are scratching two forwards. Philipp Kurashev has been a staple in the press box recently, but the other spot has been somewhat up for grabs. Lukas Reichel has been on the outside looking in frequently, but he got back in the game against Colorado. Pat Maroon was a scratch against the Avs. Other veterans — more than we likely expected before the season began — have been scratched this season as well.

The focus on the present product being improved is being balanced with eyes on the future.

It has to be.

Keeping tabs on the Blackhawks’ future

Earlier this week I shared some interesting comments from Davidson from a podcast he did with Elliotte Friedman in which he spoke about Bedard asking frequently about how the organization’s prospects are performing. Here’s part of that comment:

“He’ll ask how some of the prospects are doing and how they’re looking,” Davidson told Friedman. “Because he’s formed relationships with these players either at training camps or development camps or the draft. How are they doing and how are they looking?… And we always have a pretty active dialogue.”

With that in the back of my mind, after watching the game on Wednesday night, I asked Bedard a couple questions about Nazar and Dach in the postgame scrum. First, I asked Bedard about the energy Nazar and Dach brought to the game:

“It’s awesome,” Bedard said. “I mean, you see Frankie getting better every game and playing really well, creating a lot. It feels like every game is his next best game. It’s so fun to watch. Just the amount of skill and poise he has. To see him put one in, I’m sure he’s going to go on a roll now. And same with Dach since he’s come up — he’s been great. He’s brought a lot of energy to our group and played so hard. So for him to got his first point, it’s always exciting to see and they were obviously thrilled.”

I followed up with a pointed question about the impact seeing young guys coming up and making a difference has on him.

“We’ve have a lot of picks in the last few years,” Bedard said “Obviously I’m focused on our current team, but when you see guys come up, Frankie. Dacher, Korch, all these guys that come up and look really good, it’s just exciting because Frankie’s 20, Dacher’s 21. It’s going to get so much better. And obviously that’s exciting to see.”

In the midst of a rough season at the NHL level, trying to find the food crumbs to the promise of the future can be hard. So this perspective from a 19-year-old, who is present in the moment but also has a larger perspective, is impressive.

Because, at some point, we’ll probably see Landon Slaggert come up this year. And maybe Samuel Savoie. Korchinski could return. Ethan Del Mastro might as well. The stairsteps to the future are starting to be built. And the early returns are starting to be increasingly encouraging.