DENVER — Once upon a time, the Blackhawks were the ones kicking off NHL Opening Night with banner-raising ceremonies, and organizations would look at them as a roadmap on how to build a dynasty in the salary cap era.
On Wednesday, the Blackhawks found themselves on the other end of it by watching the Colorado Avalanche unveil their 2022 Stanley Cup banner before being routed 5-2 at Ball Arena. You couldn't help but think of how these two franchises are going in complete opposite directions.
But it also provided the city of Chicago a glimmer of hope for the future, because a full-blown rebuild is exactly how the Avalanche got to where they are now.
Colorado missed the playoffs six out of seven times from 2011-17 and had one of the worst seasons in NHL history when it finished with 48 points in 2017 — 21 fewer than the 29th-ranked team. It was a long, painful process, but the silver lining was, it resulted in the Avalanche landing high first-round picks, which they clearly capitalized on:
- No. 2 overall, 2011: Gabriel Landeskog
- No. 1 overall, 2013: Nathan MacKinnon
- No. 10 overall, 2015: Mikko Rantanen
- No. 4 overall, 2017: Cale Makar
Despite drafting these four franchise-changing players, however, it still took a while for the Avalanche to finally break through. They lost in the first round in 2018, then got bounced three consecutive years in the second round before figuring it all out in 2022.
Not every path to Stanley Cup contention is linear, like the Blackhawks' was during their dynasty era when they drafted Jonathan Toews third overall in 2006, Patrick Kane first overall in 2007, barely missed the playoffs in 2008, reached the Conference Final in 2009 and then hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2010. They kept taking steps forward when that's typically not always the case.
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Patience will be the key for the Blackhawks this time around. They are making the right call by stripping down their roster and starting from scratch, as painful as it might be. They couldn't continue the patchwork route, especially since the Blackhawks haven't won a playoff series since the 2015 Stanley Cup Final — seven years ago! It's hard to fathom.
Perhaps the most frustrating part isn't that the Blackhawks are embarking on a full-scale rebuild. It's the fact it probably should've happened years ago, which would have allowed Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews to see the other end of it. At this stage of their careers, it just doesn't feel like that will be the case.
The ultimate goal for the Blackhawks though is finding that next wave of talent. The next Kane. The next Toews. The next Duncan Keith. Or in Colorado's case, the next MacKinnon and Makar, or some version of that.
Those are the foundational pieces and players you win Stanley Cups with. The Blackhawks should eventually get there again, but this is why they are and should be following Colorado's blueprint. It's just going to take time.
"We can't always say we're going to follow a team exactly, but that's a great path and a great storyline," Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson said. "They really worked for it and deserved what they got. It's still showing tonight: they're a good team, they're not satisfied. That's what we want to be. We want to keep moving forward and not be satisfied, and that's the only way we're going to reach that goal that they did."
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