Kyle Davidson made it clear at his end-of-season presser that the time for the Hawks to take the next step in the rebuild is here, and finishing at the bottom of the league would be unacceptable going forward. While we waited months to find out what that meant, we finally got answers at draft time, when KD would go on to make the first of many moves to help improve this team. Over the next few pieces, I am going to take a look at the players brought in this off-season and what they might bring to the table this season. While some players will get their own blogs, there will be a few role players I might combine into a single blog. This is going to be my start into previewing and gearing up for the 2024/25 Blackhawks season, so let get it going.

IIya Mikheyev, 29 years old, right winger



How We Got Him
Acquired via trade on June 26th along with Sam Lafferty (rights) and a 2027 2nd round pick for a 2027 4th round pick.
The first move KD made was to give us a nice pick and we will help you with your salary cap type trade with the Vancouver Canucks. This is a move we Hawks fans are used to, as it goes back to the Bowman Era. A player is playing below what they are projected to be, so why not take a chance and see if a change of scenery helps out? There isn’t much of a risk bringing him into the fold; he has two years remaining on his current contract at just over four million dollars. Normally I would be upset to take on that full contract, but it lines up perfectly with what seems to be the timeline KD and his team are building and really going for it once Bedard signs his first extension.

Scouting Report
The overall scouting report on Mikheyev is that he has all the skills to be a solid and versatile wing and has shown glimpses of being a top six forward. He also shows good skill in his two-way game, which makes him a good fit for a bottom-six role. Basically, depending on the night, he will fit well on almost any line. Since making the jump from the KHL to the NHL, he just seems to have a hard time finding his offensive game. His best season in terms of goals was the 2021/22 season, when he put up 21 and had a career-best 32 points that same season in 53 games.

Watching highlights of his and remembering watching games live, I get the same vibe from his as I do Andreas Athanasiou. The phrase all Swedish, no Finnish comes to mind watching their games. They both have all the tools to make things happen, but it's almost as if they just do one too many moves and just shut themselves down before they can really get things going.

My Expectations
When it comes to Mikheyev, my bar for him is low, and that’s not a dig at the player he is. I would love for him to find what he had back in 21/22 and maybe outplay his contract, but the reality is that’s just probably not going to happen. He was brought on to this team to help with the salary cap situation and to have extra NHL bodies on this roster so last year’s injury-filled season doesn’t happen again. I have him penciled in as the 3rd line right winger to start out the season, and I think that might be as high as he climbs unless there are injuries or Coach Richardson gets desperate and breaks out the line blender. I would be thrilled to get 25 points out of him this season, and I think that is pretty realistic given the role he is expected to play.

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