In half a season, Philipp Kurashev has gone from the Blackhawks‘ second-leading scorer to an exile from the lineup.
It always seemed unlikely he would be able to replicate his 54-point breakout last season, but nobody anticipated a decline this precipitous.
Even the arrival of interim coach Anders Sorensen, whose offense-friendly approach and preexisting relationship with Kurashev (from his time in Rockford in 2019-20) seemed like they might provide the spark Kurashev needed, has not only not improved the situation but actually made it worse.
As the Hawks enter the second half of the season, with Kurashev staring down restricted free agency at its conclusion, it might be a stretch to even describe this as a Kurashev crisis. That stage has already come and gone; it’s more like a Kurashev catastrophe at this point.
The 25-year-old Swiss forward playing his fifth NHL season, all with the Hawks, has tallied five points in 30 games — a far cry from his 54 points in 75 games last season while mostly playing alongside Connor Bedard on both the first line and top power-play unit.
From any angle, Kurashev’s performance has been awful this season. During his five-on-five ice time, the Hawks have been outscored 24-4 — an almost unbelievable statistic. The Hawks have also generated only 39.7% of the scoring chances and 34.4% of the high-danger chances. He has been statistically one of the worst forwards in the league.
Sorensen gave Kurashev one final opportunity to re-create his chemistry with Bedard in early December, but after that yielded nothing, he has barely gotten to play at all over the last month. Wednesday marked the eighth time Kurashev has been a healthy scratch in the last 10 games. He hasn’t recorded a point since Nov. 27 and hasn’t scored since Nov. 10.
“Him and I had some conversations about what he needs to do, and we’ll keep that between us,” Sorensen said Tuesday. “We feel like we have better options [for the lineup] at this date. But it changes quick, right? So [he needs to] just be ready.”
Kurashev will almost certainly rejoin the lineup eventually. The Hawks have been relatively healthy at forward so far this season, but there’s no guarantee that continues. They’ll probably also trade away a few guys before the March 7 deadline.
On the other hand, it seems increasingly unlikely Kurashev could do enough during the second half to convince the Hawks to re-sign him come summertime — especially considering his qualifying offer, which they would have to tender in order to retain his rights, will be a sizable $2.25 million. The end date of his Hawks tenure might already be written in stone.
But, of course, that’s not the way he can allow himself to think about the situation.
“At this point, I can’t control anything,” Kurashev said Tuesday. “All I can do is control how I approach every day. I want to get better every day. I’ll make sure I’ll be ready for whenever that opportunity comes. That’s my mindset. I’m not thinking too far [ahead about] next year or whatever. I’m here right now and [I’ll] try to get through this.”
That doesn’t mean he isn’t angered by this treatment, though. After a few curt answers to begin the interview, he unleashed some emotions, which his stoic personality can only contain for so long.
“I know what I can do,” he said. “It’s not about my confidence. It’s more just a little frustrating. It’s hard not to be playing and just practicing and missing time away from the team, as well. It’s not fun.”
Just four months ago, Kurashev declared at training camp he believed he “took another step” during the summer and was “ready to show it.” Now, it appears he instead took about a dozen steps back.