Chicago didn’t let its stars go to the World Junior Championship. The Blackhawks have a bad experience and a big roster

The end of the year traditionally brings the World Junior Championships, the Spengler Cup, but also a big dilemma for coaches and NHL organizations whether to let their talented youngsters go to the highly watched event – the World Junior Championships. Chicago decided not to let go of their biggest diamond.

The Chicago Blackhawks had similar concerns this time around. This year, it was able to release its biggest stars, namely rising superstar Connor Bedard and defensive offensive ace Kevin Korchinski, for the Maple Leafs’ junior selection.

Two facts were already clear before the season. Bedard would definitely stay with the team from the beginning to the end of the regular season. With Kevin Korchinski, who is also still very young, this situation was a big unknown.

He was expected to play some games with the first team, but it was unknown how many. The situation has turned around so much that the talented defenseman with excellent skating will stay with the first team until the end of the season and will get a lot of ice time.

Chicago has a negative experience

Here comes the junior championship, which is finally being held in Europe again this year. Specifically in Gothenburg, Sweden. With the event finally coming up, a perhaps surprising decision was made for some. Neither Bedard nor Korchinski will travel to Sweden.

The main reason is most likely because the Blackhawks are currently plagued by a really large roster. The second reason is slightly related to the first. Chicago doesn’t want their young stars to get injured, which could impact their careers.

As far-fetched and drastic as it may sound, the Blackhawks organization has had some really unpleasant experiences in recent years.

Of note is the injury to Kirby Dach, the tall center who was supposed to be the successor to Jonathan Toews and later become the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks. Dach was selected by Chicago with the third overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft. They saw a big star in him. The potential was huge, but unfortunately injuries and quite possibly poor player backgrounds affected his future.

Kirby Dach is still young, but a nasty injury befell him before the World Juniors the year before last. It was Canada’s preliminary game against Russia. Kirby never looked as confident on the ice after that injury returned.

Dach’s problems were abundantly clear. Later on, a lower dose of confidence added to it. Eventually, a trade followed in which Kirby Dach went from Chicago to the Montreal Canadiens. Currently, the young forward is injured again and out for the rest of the season.

The Blackhawks are plagued by an extensive injury bug

But it’s not just Dach and bad luck that is now plaguing the Montreal Canadiens. If we look at the Chicago Blackhawks, it is now plagued by a huge fatigue, which is certainly not easy to just get over and not successful at all.

Just think of the Hawks having Bedard in particular on their roster this year. The rest of the roster is almost a below-average NHL team from which miracles are not expected. The mainstays are currently injured.

Taylor Hall is out for the rest of the season, Joey Anderson is out for at least a few weeks with a shoulder injury, Collin Blackwell has been diagnosed with a 12-week injury, and Andreas Athanasiou is still on week-to-week status. On top of that now comes the absence of three defensemen, including the most expensive Seth Jones and Alex Vlasic with Jared Tinordi.

Let’s also not forget the illness of Mackenzie Entwistle. Out for two games was Kevin Korchinski, whose father Larry passed away.

The problems with absentee players started to pile up in Chicago. The lineup looked more like Bedard and an AHL team. Chicago is on the verge of being the worst team in the entire NHL. Last season they finished 30th in the NHL at the end of the season and the lottery assigned them the first pick of the draft. The draft is a long way off, but the Blackhawks’ last pick this season is certainly not that far off.

Even without Connor Bedard and Kevin Korchinski, who were not released by the Chicago Blackhawks for the junior national team selection for the World Championships, Canada won the first game of the World Under-20 Championship against Finland 5-2.

Source: NHL, Chicago Blackhawks