How Jeff Blashill has maintained continuity in Blackhawks' forward lines

Most NHL coaches would have shuffled their lines after watching a sluggish performance like Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill did Thursday.

Former Hawks coach Luke Richardson absolutely would have, considering how frequently he threw lines into a blender last season — sometimes with reason, sometimes without.

Blashill, however, did not do so. The Hawks rolled out the exact same forward trios Saturday against the Bruins. And that says a lot about his approach.

Entering the season, he pledged to maintain more continuity in the lines, since that became such a critical talking point during Richardson's tenure.

And Blashill has followed through on that promise. Each of the Hawks' current lines feature at least two players who have spent the majority of their five-on-five ice time side-by-side.

Connor Bedard has spent 63% of his time with Andre Burakovsky, Jason Dickinson has spent 72% with Ilya Mikheyev, Nick Lardis has spent 80% with Oliver Moore and Nick Foligno has spent 53% with Colton Dach.

Bedard has also spent a substantial 50% of his time with Ryan Greene. Whereas last season, Bedard spent only 31% of his time with his most common linemate (Ryan Donato), followed by 27% with Tyler Bertuzzi, 21% with Mikheyev, 19% with Frank Nazar and 17% with Teuvo Teravainen.

"We’ve done a pretty good job of keeping a fairly good core group together," Blashill said recently. "Some guys have played almost exclusively together. That allows them to develop line chemistry, which I think matters."

The continuity is especially remarkable given how the Hawks' injuries this season have almost exclusively affected forwards.

Blashill once explained that a smart way to spark players without thoroughly jumbling lines is to keep two together and then mix-and-match the third spot. He has followed the same philosophy for replacing injured players.

With Teravainen sidelined for the last two games, for example, Blashill kept Lardis and Moore together but slid Donato — another well-rounded veteran — into Teravainen's spot on their left wing.

A couple versatile forwards have also helped with lineup construction. During Bedard's injury absence, Greene centered the top line between Burakovsky and Bertuzzi, allowing those two guys — who have spent plenty of time together — to remain together.

Now with Bedard back but temporarily barred from taking faceoffs, Greene is skating alongside Bedard and taking faceoffs for him. They determine who plays center each shift simply based on who gets back into the defensive zone first (the "F1").

"We'll play our positions off the faceoff," Greene said. "Then if 'Bedsy' gets back first, he'll take low. If I'm back first, then I'll take low. It's not too confusing. We did it a lot at the start of the year, [when] whoever was hot on faceoffs started taking more."

Landon Slaggert, meanwhile, has mostly skated on the fourth line with Foligno and Dach. But when Mikheyev missed two games due to the birth of his child, Blashill felt secure moving him onto Dickinson's checking line — and he did the same Monday when Bedard suddenly fell ill.

"Any way I can help the team, whether that's filling in for a guy who's sick or injured or whatever, I'm ready to go," Slaggert said. "I'm glad he's comfortable enough with my game to insert me in those situations, too. It's good having that trust."

Foligno has been impressed by Blashill's lineup-building skills.

"That's a sign of stability in your team, right?" Foligno said. "If you can find a way to have consistent lines, then you can learn what your role should be for the team. Injuries are always going to be a factor. But if you can have guys that understand that importance, it makes you a stronger unit together.

"Blashill understands that tremendously. And he still deploys us in a way that we can still be difference-makers — each and every line. I think he's smart in how he puts lines out there."