Blackhawks hope Philipp Kurashev’s flashes of stardom eventually lead to breakthrough

EDMONTON, Alberta — Connor Murphy has watched Philipp Kurashev build confidence in the NHL for three seasons now.

But even Murphy was a little stunned by the extra gear Kurashev turned on during the Blackhawks’ Jan. 17 comeback victory against the Sabres. For one night, if only one night, he looked like a bona fide NHL star.

“That shift he scored the tip-in goal, he caught a pass in the neutral zone out of the air — like a rocket pass; it was, like, six inches [off the ice] — with his blade,” Murphy said, his eyebrows raised and his hands gesturing. “And then he makes a play in [the offensive] zone after that. And then he makes a tip, a full reaching tip.

“And then the pass where he found me [for my goal], there was a guy in between us, and he feathered it to go behind the guy. [For him] to have that skill and vision, to be able to settle pucks and find holes that people are not seeing, is impressive.”

Kurashev was the best player on the ice that game, almost single-handedly keeping the Hawks afloat for 40 minutes before -everybody found their legs late. He had three points (one goal, two assists) and a 57.8% five-on-five shot-attempt ratio in 20:25 of ice time, his second-highest of the season.

“I haven’t seen him play like that — a consistent, full game like that — since early in the year,” coach Luke Richardson said afterward. “He deserves all the points he got tonight. I thought he could’ve had a few more.”

Kurashev called it an “amazing feeling.”

But there’s a reason that performance — which is almost two weeks old — is still worth discussing: Kurashev doesn’t often dominate like that.

The 23-year-old Swiss forward has 20 points in 47 games, which tied him for 247th in the NHL entering Friday. He’s on pace to finish with 35 points, which would set a career high — he had 16 in his 2020-21 rookie season and 21 last season — but wouldn’t earn him anything close to a big payday as a pending restricted free agent this summer.

Kurashev was still an impressive find by the previous Hawks management regime in the fourth round of the 2018 draft. Among all players chosen in the third through seventh rounds that year, his 57 career points make him the second-highest scorer, trailing only Devils fifth-rounder Yegor Sharangovich.

Only two other 2018 fourth-rounders — Paul Cotter (Golden Knights) and Jasper Weatherby (Sharks, now Red Wings) — have made more than six total NHL appearances.

Nonetheless, for Kurashev to become more than a serviceable middle-six winger — and for him to remain on the Hawks through this rebuild and into their next era of contention — he needs to have a breakthrough at some point.

Performances like that Sabres game prove it’s possible, prove he has the necessary talent and hockey IQ to eventually take another step. But, at the moment, inconsistency is holding him back.

“It’s a long season; sometimes it’s hard to be at your best every game,” Kurashev said. “Hopefully I’ll find a way to be more consistent all year and not just here and there. That’s a big goal for me, to be a consistent player.”

After training last summer with Sharks star Timo Meier, Kurashev came out flying at the start of the season. Richardson began moving him around to different lines like a fire log, using his momentum to ignite everyone else.

Kurashev finished October with a 51.5% on-ice expected-goals ratio at five-on-five, second-best on the team, while individually producing 0.77 expected goals per 60 minutes, which was third-best.

But as the Hawks faded into oblivion in November and December, so did Kurashev. From Nov. 1 through Jan. 3, he had a 37.8% ratio and 0.56 individual production rate. Richardson took some of the blame, worrying that moving Kurashev around eventually knocked him “out of rhythm.”

Then he heated up during a five-game segment (which concluded with the Sabres game) with a 53.7% ratio and 0.75 individual production rate.

Then he promptly disappeared again. His last five games since the Sabres explosion have been quite underwhelming, with a 27.6% ratio and 0.22 individual production rate. He did get an assist Thursday against the Flames, but he was one of the Hawks’ least noticeable forwards on a night when every line contributed to the scoring.

If it sounds like a roller coaster, it feels like one for Kurashev and the Hawks, too.

But Kurashev, a once-shy kid who has visibly grown more comfortable in the United States and in the NHL the last few years, said he’s trying to “stay loose, play with a free mind, enjoy the game and feed off” his teammates.

The organization will probably be patient with him, too. It’s not like there’s heavy competition for top-six roles at the moment, nor will there be next season. He’s also a near-certain bet to be re-signed, considering he’s one of few current NHL forwards with even a realistic chance of sticking around past the rebuild.

And he has plenty of believers around the organization, including Murphy and Richardson.

“He has always had that speed and skill level,” Murphy said. ”That’s a hard thing coming into the league, being able to use your skill set in the right areas and knowing how to create those chances. He’s now able to translate it to games. He’s growing, for sure.”

Said Richardson: “That determination shows he’s not just satisfied to be an ‘OK’ young player. He wants to be a ‘really good’ young player.”

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