NHL Power Rankings: Lightning strikes, Flames burn out

29. Chicago Blackhawks ( -1)

It is hard to pin down the Chicago Blackhawks’ exact struggles this year because the whole team was underwhelming. The Blackhawks will miss the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons. The main players on the team like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Corey Crawford all had decent seasons, and rookie Alex DeBrincat has impressed many. Where it went wrong is deeper in the lineup. There are only six players on the roster with double-digit goal totals. Patrick Sharp, who was brought back this offseason, never panned out and Duncan Kieth struggled, collecting a near career low in points. If the Blackhawks want to rebound next season, they will need to offload a major contract and use the money to shop efficiently.

The Chicago Blackhawks should be playing the role of spoiler right now by taking points from teams in the middle of the playoff race. The only problem is they are not very good at playing spoiler. In the last set of games, the Blackhawks have one win and five losses. Their lone win came against the New York Islanders on Saturday. They surrounded their lone win with losses to the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks. The one thing the Chicago Blackhawks did do this week was help their draft lottery chances. With their four losses, the Blackhawks slid further down the standings in an attempt to win the top draft spot and pick up star prospect Rasmus Dahlin.