The Chicago Blackhawks open training camp on Thursday ahead of the 2022-23 NHL season and, well ... it’s hard to think of a season in recent memory with lower expectations than this one.
The team is rebuilding/tanking/whatever-ing and appears to be in a race to the bottom of the NHL standings in hopes of landing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, aka the Connor Bedard sweepstakes.
But there will be 82 games played between now and next April which will have at least some effect on Chicago’s long-term outlook — and not just in terms of draft positioning.