The 2021–22 Chicago Blackhawks season was the 96th season for the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

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were led by Jeremy Colliton until he was fired on November 6, 2021, after the team started with a 1–9–2 record; he has been replaced by interim coach Derek King.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 COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the NHL announced that divisions and conferences would be used for the season. Realignment of divisions occurred as the

Seattle Kraken The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The t ...

began their first season in the Pacific Division while the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

moved to the Central Division. The Blackhawks were eliminated from playoff contention of April 5, 2022, after wins by the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

and

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

Off-season

Trades and acquisitions

The Blackhawks traded two-time

Norris Trophy The James Norris Memorial Trophy, or simply the Norris Trophy, is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's top " defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position". It is named after Ja ...

-winner

Duncan Keith Duncan Keith (born July 16, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers. He won three Stanley Cup championships with Chicago i ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

on July 12, 2021, after 16 years with the Hawks. The Hawks received Caleb Jones, brother of Columbus defenseman

Seth Jones Jared Seth Jones (born October 3, 1994) is an American professional ice hockey defenceman, defenseman for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected fourth overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2013 NHL entry ...

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 Marc-André Fleury (; born November 28, 1984) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey goaltender. Drafted out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) first overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2003 NHL entry draft, Fleury p ...

was traded by

Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-larg ...

to the Blackhawks.

Return of Toews

Blackhawk captain

Jonathan Toews Jonathan Bryan Toews ( born April 29, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), centre who last played for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL), where he served as the team's captain between 2008 an ...

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 Kyle Beach (born January 14, 1990) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Considered a top National Hockey League (NHL) prospect, he was selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Beach never ...

(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 The 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 14, 2010, after the 2009–10 NHL regular season. The Finals ended on June 9, 2010, with the Chicago Blackhawks defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in six games to ...

. On October 26, the Blackhawks released the findings of the investigation conducted by

Jenner & Block Jenner & Block is an American law firm with offices in Century City, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The firm is active in corporate litigation, business transactions, the public sector, and oth ...

and announced general manager/president of hockey operations

Stan Bowman Stanley Glenn Bowman (born June 28, 1973) is a Canadian-American ice hockey executive, currently serving as the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously worked as the general manager of the Chicago ...

and senior vice president of hockey operations Al MacIsaac resigned. The Blackhawks promoted

Kyle Davidson Kyle Davidson (born July 1, 1988) is a Canadian sports executive who currently serves as the general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) since October 26, 2021. He initially joined the Blackhawks in 2010 as an int ...

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 The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

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

Conference standings

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.

Player statistics

Skaters

Goaltenders

^†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

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

Players lost

Signings

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 Videotelephony (also known as videoconferencing or video calling) is the use of audio signal, audio and video for simultaneous two-way communication. Today, videotelephony is widespread. There are many terms to refer to videotelephony. ''Vide ...

from the NHL Network studio in

Secaucus, New Jersey Secaucus ( ) is a Town (New Jersey), town in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 22,181, an increase of 5,917 (+36.4%) from the 2010 United St ...

References

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Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

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