2015–16 Chicago Blackhawks season

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2015–16 Chicago Blackhawks
Division3rd Central
Conference3rd Western
2015–16 record47–26–9
Home record26–11–4
Road record21–15–5
Goals for235
Goals against209
Team information
General managerStan Bowman
CoachJoel Quenneville
CaptainJonathan Toews
Alternate captainsDuncan Keith
Brent Seabrook
ArenaUnited Center
Average attendance21,859 (110.9%)
Total: 896,240[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)Rockford IceHogs (AHL)
Indy Fuel (ECHL)
Team leaders
GoalsPatrick Kane (46)
AssistsPatrick Kane (60)
PointsPatrick Kane (106)
Penalty minutesAndrew Shaw (69)
Plus/minus(+): Patrick Kane (+17)
(–): Andrew Desjardins (–8)
WinsCorey Crawford (35)
Goals against averageMichael Leighton (1.54)

The 2015–16 Chicago Blackhawks season was the 90th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on September 25, 1926.[2] They entered the season as defending Stanley Cup champions. The Blackhawks finished the season with a 47–26–9 record and qualified for the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the #3 seed in the Central Division. They lost in the first round to the St. Louis Blues, 4 games to 3.

Off-season

The Blackhawks faced an offseason of change after being crowned Stanley Cup Champions for a third time in six years. Coming into the offseason, it was well known Chicago was facing impending cap space struggles and moves would need to be made.[3]

On June 27, Chicago traded backup goaltender Antti Raanta to the New York Rangers in exchange for AHL forward Ryan Haggerty.[4] Two days after the trade, defenseman David Rundblad received a 2-year, $2 million contract extension on June 29.[5]

The Blackhawks attempted to negotiate a contract for restricted free agent winger Brandon Saad who was a restricted free agent, but were unsuccessful. Unlikely to match any sizeable offer sheets due to cap constraints, Chicago struck a trade Saad to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Chicago sent Saad and prospects Michael Paliotta and Alex Broadhurst to Columbus in exchange for center Artem Anisimov, wingers Jeremy Morin and Corey Tropp, as well as prospect Marko Dano and their 2016 4th round pick.[6] Anisimov subsequently signed a 5-year, $22.75 million contract with the Blackhawks.[7] The move did not sit well with the Chicago fanbase, as Saad was viewed as another top young player on the Stanley Cup-winning squad.[8]

Chicago turned to Russia a few times throughout the offseason. KHL winger Viktor Tihkonov, the grandson of legendary Soviet coach by the same name, signed a 1-year, $1.04 million contract with Chicago on July 1.[9] Tihkonov was returning to the NHL for the first time since his 2009 season with the Phoenix Coyotes. Also, Chicago and Edmonton swapped minor league players, sending goaltender Anders Nilsson to the Oilers in exchange for forward Liam Coughlin.[10]

Following season-long trade speculation, the Blackhawks pulled the trigger on another trade by trading another piece of its core Stanley Cup winning teams. Another cap clearing move, Chicago traded alternate captain Patrick Sharp and defenseman Stephen Johns to the Dallas Stars in exchange for forward Ryan Garbutt and defenseman Trevor Daley.[11] The 3-time Stanley Cup winner carried a cap hit of $5.9 million in each of the next two seasons, limiting the Blackhawks in what they could do with free agency. A trade was expected following a down year in terms of production and the large aforementioned cap hit.

Forward Andrew Desjardins returned on a 2-year deal worth $1.6 million, taking less to stay in Chicago.[12] The Chicago Blackhawks extended the contracts of defensemen Viktor Svedberg, forward Marcus Kruger, and defenseman Michal Rozsival. They lost forwards Brad Richards and Antoine Vermette, as well as defenseman Johnny Oduya during free agency.[13]

Season summary

The Blackhawks began their title defense with and average month of October. The Hawks went 6–5–0. However fortunes increased in November (7–3–1) and December (9–5–1). The Hawks finished December on two game winning streak, looking to keep the wins coming in 2016. The Blackhawks did just that, winning the first 10 games of January to bring the win streak to 12 games.[14] The streak set a franchise record for consecutive wins.[14] The streak tied the Florida Panthers win streak earlier in the season for the longest winning streak in the NHL that season.[15]


Schedule and results

Pre-season

Regular season

2015–16 Schedule[17]

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Detailed records

Playoffs

2016 Stanley Cup playoffs

Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Updated as of games played through April 17, 2016

Skaters

Goaltenders

Regular Season[19]
Player GP GS TOI W L OT GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Corey Crawford 58 58 3,323 35 18 5 131 2.37 1718 .924 7 0 1 2
Scott Darling 29 24 1,560 12 8 4 67 2.58 784 .915 1 0 0 0
Michael Leighton 1 0 39 0 0 0 1 1.54 17 .941 0 0 0 0
Totals 82 4,696 47 26 9 207 2.38 2428 .923 8 0 1 2
Playoffs
Player GP GS TOI W L GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Corey Crawford 7 7 448 3 4 19 2.54 205 .907 0 0 0 2

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Blackhawks. Stats reflect time with Blackhawks only.
Left team mid-season. Stats reflect time with Blackhawks only.

Roster

Updated May 13, 2024[20][21]

No. Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
15 United States Joey Anderson RW R 25 2023 Roseville, Minnesota
89 Canada Andreas Athanasiou C L 29 2022 London, Ontario
98 Canada Connor Bedard C R 18 2023 North Vancouver, British Columbia
43 United States Colin Blackwell C R 31 2022 North Andover, Massachusetts
16 Canada Jason Dickinson C L 28 2022 Georgetown, Ontario
8 United States Ryan Donato C L 28 2023 Scituate, Massachusetts
58 Canada MacKenzie Entwistle RW R 24 2018 Georgetown, Ontario
17 United States Nick Foligno (A) LW L 36 2023 Buffalo, New York
71 Canada Taylor Hall Injured Reserve LW L 32 2023 Calgary, Alberta
52 Canada Reese Johnson C R 25 2019 Regina, Saskatchewan
90 United States Tyler Johnson C R 33 2021 Liberty Lake, Washington
4 United States Seth Jones (A) D R 29 2021 Arlington, Texas
55 Canada Kevin Korchinski D L 19 2022 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
23 Switzerland Philipp Kurashev C L 24 2018 Münsingen, Switzerland
24 United States Jaycob Megna D L 31 2024 Plantation, Florida
34 Czech Republic Petr Mrazek G L 32 2022 Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
5 United States Connor Murphy (A) D R 31 2017 Boston, Massachusetts
91 United States Frank Nazar C R 20 2022 Mount Clemens, Michigan
11 Canada Taylor Raddysh RW R 26 2022 Caledon, Ontario
27 Germany Lukas Reichel LW L 22 2020 Nuremberg, Germany
84 United States Landon Slaggert LW L 21 2020 South Bend, Indiana
40 Sweden Arvid Soderblom G L 24 2021 Gothenburg, Sweden
25 United States Jarred Tinordi D L 32 2022 Burnsville, Minnesota
72 United States Alex Vlasic D L 22 2019 Wilmette, Illinois
22 Russia Nikita Zaitsev D R 32 2023 Moscow, Soviet Union

Awards and honours

Awards

Milestones