Blackhawks' Philipp Kurashev feels 'ready to show' he can replicate breakout season

Luke Richardson was, at first, taken aback when Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev started barking at referees during a few games late last season.

But he was also pleased to see it.

"You can be the nicest, quietest guy away from the rink, but when you’re in 'game mode,' you have to create a bit of an attitude," Richardson said. "It’s not arrogance; it’s an attitude that you want it [and] you want more. We saw that from him last year, and we want him to grow that even more this year."

Kurashev's increasing comfort showing his true personality represents yet another way he has matured during his time in Chicago.

"I do get emotional in the games," Kurashev admitted. "Maybe at the start, I wasn't really showing it too much — I held it back — but [now] I just try to show my emotion. It also helps me in the games [when I] express myself a little bit more."

Entering his fifth NHL season, he has evolved from a shy, unheralded prospect with some creativity into a mature, versatile and established offensive weapon.

Coming off an 18-goal, 54-point breakout 2023-24 season, the 24-year-old Switzerland native now touts 116 career NHL points — 10th-most in the entire 2018 draft class and more than double anyone else taken in the fourth round that year.

The big question, however, is whether he will be able to replicate — or at least come close to replicating — that production without playing alongside Connor Bedard, as he did the vast majority of last season.

So far in training camp, Tyler Bertuzzi and Taylor Hall have spent the most time with Bedard, and Teuvo Teravainen moved up next to the teenage wonder in Wednesday's preseason opener, but Kurashev hasn't gotten any looks there.

Instead, he has mostly been used as the second-line center. That's a position he has played occasionally in the past, such as during the month that Bedard missed with his broken jaw last year, but never regularly. It must be noted that if Frank Nazar ends up making the roster, Kurashev could be moved elsewhere to make room for the kid.

Kurashev did grow up playing center before reaching the NHL, and he also correctly mentioned that Richardson's defensive system involves much interchanging between centers and wingers (making the positional designations less meaningful), but he's still not exactly experienced in this role.

"Maybe it took him a few weeks to ingest some of the [center] responsibilities," Richardson said. "But he's such a responsible player. Half the time he's the first guy back in the 'D'-zone anyways and he's down low, so he might as well be the centerman."

Some of Richardson's description isn't supported by data — analytically, Kurashev was actually very poor defensively last season — but another thing Richardson has noted which the data does support is Kurashev shooting the puck more on the power play.

Special teams are an area where Kurashev likely will still play alongside Bedard, and their chemistry was especially effective in that area last year. Kurashev took advantage of Bedard's pinpoint passes and tendency to attract all of the penalty kill's attention by firing 21.5 shots per 60 minutes of power-play time, up from 13.6 and 8.9 the previous two years.

"We’re promoting him to shoot the puck more," Richardson said. "Same with [Andreas Athanasiou and Lukas] Reichel: we want them to shoot the puck first instead of slowing down, stopping your feet and trying to wait out a defenseman to make a play. [Then] everyone in the rink knows you’re passing."

Kurashev's improvement there — as well as with speaking up — reflects his increasingly evident ability to redefine himself as his career progresses. He will be expected to do more of that this season.

"I feel like I took another step, and I'm ready to show it," he said.