If You're Looking For Positives About The Blackhawks You Can Start With The Game Last Night

This was the marketing drop yesterday before the first game of the season? #ReadyToWork. I think a video that probably took most of the summer to craft, cast, and shoot about the direction of the season only getting 600 or so likes isn't the engagement they were looking for from their 2.4M twitter followers. I think it didn't resonate because it's simply not true. This team isn't "ready to work". Other than Luke Richardson and Kyle Davidson, who on this team is actually ready to work for the greater good? The unfortunate reality is that everyone on the roster is more or less a mercenary. Anyone could and probably should be traded at the deadline. It is what it is, so don't tell me that this season is something that it's not. That is a nitpicky criticism, but I feel like it needs to be said because that messaging doesn't really line up with the reality on the ice, in the stands, or in the bar. The rebuild is still in the demolition stages. 

When you watch the Avs raise a banner and then proceed to dust the Hawks it does give you a weird sense of hope. A sense of what a rebuild can be. Jared Bednar's first year with the Avalanche was abysmal. That Avalanche team went 22-56-4. Five years later the Avs were hoisting the Stanley Cup. It can happen. 

Now, the big difference is obviously that the Avs already had MacKinnon, Landeskog, and Raantanen in the program. Then they drafted Cale Makar in 2017, followed by Byram in 2019. 

Maybe Korchinski is our Byram. Maybe the Hawks get either Bedard or Fantilli and they develop into a true superstar like MacKinnon. Maybe Nazar can be as productive as Raantanen someday. They're not going to get their own version of Cale Makar because the idea of two of those guys being alive at the same time is impossible, but I hope they can piece together an elite top 4 with some combination of Korchinski, Seth Jones, Kaiser, Vlasic, and maybe that Rinzel kid. 

The Avs had a better starting point, clearly, but watching them proves it can be done and it can be done relatively quickly if you nail the draft and get a little lucky. Ready to work? Eh. Dare to dream? I am there.