# 2021–22 Chicago Blackhawks season

The 2021–22 Chicago Blackhawks season was the 96th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on September 25, 1926. The Blackhawks were led by Jeremy Colliton until he was fired on November 6, 2021, after the team started with a 1–9–2 record; he has been replaced by interim coach Derek King.
After the prior season was shortened and realigned due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL announced that divisions and conferences would be used for the season. Realignment of divisions occurred as the Seattle Kraken began their first season in the Pacific Division while the Arizona Coyotes moved to the Central Division.
The Blackhawks were eliminated from playoff contention of April 5, 2022, after wins by the Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators.

## Off-season
### Trades and acquisitions

The Blackhawks traded two-time Norris Trophy-winner Duncan Keith to Edmonton on July 12, 2021, after 16 years with the Hawks. The Hawks received Caleb Jones, brother of Columbus defenseman Seth Jones in the trade. On July 23, the Hawks acquired Seth Jones from Columbus and signed him to an eight-year extension. Four days later, goaltender Marc-André Fleury was traded by Vegas to the Blackhawks.

### Return of Toews

Blackhawk captain Jonathan Toews returned to the team for the season after missing the entire 2020–21 season due to an undisclosed injury which was later revealed to be chronic immune response syndrome.

## Season summary
### Sexual assault allegations

In June 2021, Kyle Beach (who did not disclose his name until after the Blackhawks released their report), a former Blackhawks prospect, filed a lawsuit against the Blackhawks organization for failing to file a proper police report or properly handle his report that he was sexually assaulted by video coach Brad Aldrich during the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. On October 26, the Blackhawks released the findings of the investigation conducted by Jenner & Block and announced general manager/president of hockey operations Stan Bowman and senior vice president of hockey operations Al MacIsaac resigned. The Blackhawks promoted Kyle Davidson to serve as their interim general manager, and then formally named him general manager on March 1, 2022. The team also received a $2-million fine from the NHL for failing to adequately and timely address Beach's allegations.

### Poor start and firing of Jeremy Colliton

Opening their season with six straight losses, the Blackhawks broke a 51-year-old NHL record previously held by the 1970–71 California Golden Seals for the most minutes played at the start of a season without holding a lead. At nine consecutive losses, the Blackhawks set a new record for worst season start in franchise history in a 1–0 loss to the St. Louis Blues on October 30, 2021.
Colliton was fired following the team's 11th loss of the season and with a record 1–9–2. King won his first game as head coach on November 7.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Central Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | z – Colorado Avalanche | 82 | 56 | 19 | 7 | 46 | 312 | 234 | +78 | 119 |
| 2 | x – Minnesota Wild | 82 | 53 | 22 | 7 | 37 | 310 | 253 | +57 | 113 |
| 3 | x – St. Louis Blues | 82 | 49 | 22 | 11 | 43 | 311 | 242 | +69 | 109 |
| 4 | x – Dallas Stars | 82 | 46 | 30 | 6 | 31 | 238 | 246 | −8 | 98 |
| 5 | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 45 | 30 | 7 | 35 | 266 | 252 | +14 | 97 |
| 6 | e – Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 39 | 32 | 11 | 31 | 252 | 257 | −5 | 89 |
| 7 | e – Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 28 | 42 | 12 | 16 | 219 | 291 | −72 | 68 |
| 8 | e – Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 25 | 50 | 7 | 18 | 207 | 313 | −106 | 57 |

### Conference standings

Western Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | RW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | CE | x – Dallas Stars | 82 | 46 | 30 | 6 | 31 | 238 | 246 | −8 | 98 |
| 2 | CE | x – Nashville Predators | 82 | 45 | 30 | 7 | 35 | 266 | 252 | +14 | 97 |
| 3 | PA | e – Vegas Golden Knights | 82 | 43 | 31 | 8 | 34 | 266 | 248 | +18 | 94 |
| 4 | PA | e – Vancouver Canucks | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 32 | 249 | 236 | +13 | 92 |
| 5 | CE | e – Winnipeg Jets | 82 | 39 | 32 | 11 | 32 | 252 | 257 | −5 | 89 |
| 6 | PA | e – San Jose Sharks | 82 | 32 | 37 | 13 | 22 | 214 | 264 | −50 | 77 |
| 7 | PA | e – Anaheim Ducks | 82 | 31 | 37 | 14 | 22 | 232 | 271 | −39 | 76 |
| 8 | CE | e – Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 28 | 42 | 12 | 16 | 219 | 291 | −72 | 68 |
| 9 | PA | e – Seattle Kraken | 82 | 27 | 49 | 6 | 23 | 216 | 285 | −69 | 60 |
| 10 | CE | e – Arizona Coyotes | 82 | 25 | 50 | 7 | 18 | 207 | 313 | −106 | 57 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on July 19, 2021.

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on July 23, 2021.
2021–22 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Patrick Kane | 78 | 26 | 66 | 92 | −19 | 18 |
| Alex DeBrincat | 82 | 41 | 37 | 78 | −13 | 19 |
| Seth Jones | 78 | 5 | 46 | 51 | −37 | 28 |
| Dylan Strome | 69 | 22 | 26 | 48 | −6 | 28 |
| Brandon Hagel$^‡$ | 55 | 21 | 16 | 37 | −14 | 23 |
| Jonathan Toews | 71 | 12 | 25 | 37 | −14 | 39 |
| Dominik Kubalik | 78 | 15 | 17 | 32 | −16 | 16 |
| Kirby Dach | 70 | 9 | 17 | 26 | −18 | 43 |
| Jake McCabe | 75 | 4 | 18 | 22 | −27 | 33 |
| Philipp Kurashev | 67 | 6 | 15 | 21 | −16 | 12 |
| Erik Gustafsson | 59 | 3 | 15 | 18 | −4 | 14 |
| Caleb Jones | 51 | 5 | 10 | 15 | −3 | 18 |
| MacKenzie Entwistle | 55 | 5 | 7 | 12 | −16 | 23 |
| Riley Stillman | 52 | 2 | 10 | 12 | −8 | 36 |
| Sam Lafferty$^†$ | 46 | 5 | 6 | 11 | −16 | 21 |
| Ryan Carpenter$^‡$ | 59 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −10 | 36 |
| Taylor Raddysh$^†$ | 21 | 6 | 4 | 10 | −4 | 2 |
| Connor Murphy | 57 | 4 | 6 | 10 | −14 | 47 |
| Calvin de Haan | 69 | 4 | 4 | 8 | −21 | 33 |
| Henrik Borgstrom | 52 | 4 | 3 | 7 | −14 | 22 |
| Tyler Johnson | 26 | 3 | 4 | 7 | −8 | 12 |
| Reese Johnson | 37 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −13 | 16 |
| Jujhar Khaira | 27 | 3 | 0 | 3 | −4 | 13 |
| Adam Gaudette$^‡$ | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −3 | 4 |
| Alex Vlasic | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −2 | 2 |
| Mike Hardman | 21 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −6 | 11 |
| Alec Regula | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 12 |
| Boris Katchouk$^†$ | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −10 | 14 |
| Lukas Reichel | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −8 | 0 |
| Josiah Slavin | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Ian Mitchell | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 0 |
| Brett Connolly | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 15 |
| Isaak Phillips | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 4 |
| Nicolas Beaudin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Wyatt Kalynuk | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 2 |
| Jakub Galvas | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kurtis Gabriel | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Marc-Andre Fleury$^‡$ | 45 | 45 | 2,626:58 | 19 | 21 | 5 | 129 | 2.95 | 1,398 | .908 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Kevin Lankinen | 32 | 29 | 1,815:35 | 8 | 15 | 6 | 106 | 3.50 | 973 | .891 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Collin Delia | 8 | 6 | 343:06 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 22 | 3.85 | 218 | .899 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arvid Soderblom | 3 | 2 | 155:49 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 5.01 | 95 | .863 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Blackhawks. Stats reflect time with the Blackhawks only. $^‡$Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Blackhawks only. Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

## Transactions

The Blackhawks have been involved in the following transactions during the 2021–22 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| July 12, 2021 (2021-07-12) | To Edmonton OilersDuncan Keith Tim Soderlund | To Chicago BlackhawksCaleb Jones Conditional$^1$ 2nd-round pick in 2022 |
| July 23, 2021 (2021-07-23) | To Columbus Blue JacketsAdam Boqvist 1st-round pick in 2021 2nd-round pick in 2021 Conditional$^2$ 1st-round pick in 2022 or 2023 | To Chicago BlackhawksSeth Jones TBL 1st-round pick in 2021 6th-round pick in 2022 |
| July 24, 2021 (2021-07-24) | To Carolina Hurricanes3rd-round pick in 2022 | To Chicago Blackhawks3rd-round pick in 2021 |
| July 27, 2021 (2021-07-27) | To Vegas Golden KnightsMikael Hakkarainen | To Chicago BlackhawksMarc-Andre Fleury |
| July 27, 2021 (2021-07-27) | To Tampa Bay LightningBrent Seabrook | To Chicago BlackhawksTyler Johnson 2nd-round pick in 2023 |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | To Calgary FlamesNikita Zadorov | To Chicago BlackhawksTOR 3rd-round pick in 2022 |
| December 9, 2021 (2021-12-09) | To Toronto Maple LeafsChad Krys | To Chicago BlackhawksKurtis Gabriel |
| January 5, 2022 (2022-01-05) | To Pittsburgh PenguinsAlexander Nylander | To Chicago BlackhawksSam Lafferty |
| March 18, 2022 (2022-03-18) | To Tampa Bay LightningBrandon Hagel 4th-round pick in 2022 4th-round pick in 2024 | To Chicago BlackhawksTaylor Raddysh Boris Katchouk 1st-round pick in 2023 1st-round pick in 2024 |
| March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21) | To Minnesota WildMarc-Andre Fleury | To Chicago BlackhawksConditional$^3$ 2nd-round pick in 2022 |
| March 21, 2022 (2022-03-21) | To Calgary FlamesRyan Carpenter | To Chicago Blackhawks5th-round pick in 2024 |
Notes:
* Chicago will receive a second-round pick in 2022 if Edmonton reaches the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals and Keith is among the top-four defensemen on the Oilers in time-on-ice during the first three rounds of the playoffs; otherwise Chicago will receive a third-round pick in 2022.
* Columbus will receive Chicago's 1st-round pick in 2022 if the pick is outside the top two selections; otherwise Columbus will receive Chicago's 1st-round pick in 2023.
* Chicago will receive Minnesota's 1st-round pick in 2022 if they reach the 2022 Western Conference Final and Fleury has at least four wins in the first two rounds; otherwise they will receive a 2nd-round pick.

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Jujhar Khaira | Edmonton Oilers | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Jake McCabe | Buffalo Sabres | 4-year | Free agency |
| October 11, 2021 (2021-10-11) | Erik Gustafsson | Montreal Canadiens | 1-year | Free agency |
| December 31, 2021 (2021-12-31) | Cale Morris | Rockford IceHogs (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| March 23, 2022 (2022-03-23) | Jaxson Stauber | Providence Friars (HE) | 2-year | Free agency |
| May 23, 2022 (2022-05-23) | Filip Roos | Skellefteå AIK (SHL) | 2-year | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Term | Via |
| July 21, 2021 (2021-07-21) | John Quenneville | Seattle Kraken | | Expansion draft |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Vinnie Hinostroza | Buffalo Sabres | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | David Kampf | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Pius Suter | Detroit Red Wings | 2-year | Free agency |
| August 20, 2021 (2021-08-20) | Anton Lindholm | HC Dinamo Minsk (KHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| September 10, 2021 (2021-09-10) | Josh Dickinson | Toledo Walleye (ECHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| September 17, 2021 (2021-09-17) | Zack Smith | | | Retirement |
| October 13, 2021 (2021-10-13) | Matej Chalupa | | | Contract termination |
| November 27, 2021 (2021-11-27) | Adam Gaudette | Ottawa Senators | | Waivers |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| July 26, 2021 (2021-07-26) | Adam Gaudette | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 28, 2021 (2021-07-28) | Seth Jones | 8-year | Extension |
| August 6, 2021 (2021-08-06) | Brandon Hagel | 3-year | Re-signing |
| August 10, 2021 (2021-08-10) | Mike Hardman | 2-year | Re-signing |
| August 16, 2021 (2021-08-16) | Alexander Nylander | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 18, 2021 (2021-08-18) | MacKenzie Entwistle | 2-year | Re-signing |
| August 31, 2021 (2021-08-31) | Connor Murphy | 4-year | Extension |
| September 16, 2021 (2021-09-16) | Nolan Allan | 3-year | Entry-level |
| October 1, 2021 (2021-10-01) | Colton Dach | 3-year | Entry-level |
| November 2, 2021 (2021-11-02) | Louis Crevier | 3-year | Entry-level |
| March 15, 2022 (2022-03-15) | Alex Vlasic | 3-year | Entry-level |
| April 13, 2022 (2022-04-13) | Reese Johnson | 2-year | Extension |
| April 22, 2022 (2022-04-22) | Ethan Del Mastro | 3-year | Entry-level |
| April 29, 2022 (2022-04-29) | Sam Lafferty | 2-year | Extension |

## Draft picks

Below are the Chicago Blackhawks' selections at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, which were held on July 23 to 24, 2021. It was held virtually via Video conference call from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.
| Round | # | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team (League) |
| 1 | 32 | Nolan Allan | D | Canada | Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) |
| 2 | 62 | Colton Dach | C | Canada | Saskatoon Blades (WHL) |
| 3 | 91 | Taige Harding | D | Canada | Fort McMurray Oil Barons (AJHL) |
| 4 | 105 | Ethan Del Mastro | D | Canada | Mississauga Steelheads (OHL) |
| 4 | 108 | Victor Stjernborg | C | Sweden | Vaxjo Lakers (SHL) |
| 6 | 172 | Ilya Safonov | C | Russia | Irbis Kazan (MHL) |
| 7 | 204 | Connor Kelley | D | USA | Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (NCHC) |
| 7 | 216 | Jalen Luypen | D | Canada | Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL) |