Chicago Sports

Justin Fields still has Matt Nagy’s complete trust in his ability to achieve.

The past year has been spent by Matt Nagy observing and learning from Andy Reid, head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. Nagy returned to Kansas City as the Chiefs’ quarterback coach after being let go by the Bears.

While Nagy has been focused on leading the Chiefs to Super Bowl XVII, he has also been monitoring quarterback Justin Fields’ development in Year 2 with the new Chicago coaching staff. Nagy, who is assisting Patrick Mahomes in getting ready for Sunday’s game against Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles, is confident that Fields will play on a major stage at some time in his career.

According to Josh Schrock “Without a doubt,” Nagy said Monday night at Super Bowl Opening Night when asked if Justin Fields will play in a Super Bowl. “You all saw it this year, what he can do. He’s going to continue to keep growing. However, you want to say it, whatever part of his game. To do what he did from his rookie year to this past year, it’s only going to get better from here. He’s wired the right way. I got to see him firsthand – how he studies, how he practices, and his passion for the game. He hates to lose. He’s always been that way.

Matt Nagy on if he sees a #SuperBowl in the future for Justin Fields. Check out more from Nagy tonight on @GNSportsTV at 10:30pm on @WGNTV. @WGNNews #Bears #SBLVII #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/5TMZLX9rHl

— Jarrett Payton (@paytonsun) February 7, 2023

The Bears challenged Fields to drop back behind a porous offensive line and make accurate passes to receivers who had trouble finding open space, which put Fields’ second season in jeopardy. Fields’ performance was improved after the mini-bye week reevaluation by head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. Fields improved as a passer and developed into the NFL’s most dangerous runner after the adoption of planned quarterback runs.

Justin Fields displayed just how dynamic he can be in 2022, recording 1,143 yards rushing with eight rushing touchdowns. As a passer, he completed 60.4 percent of his throws for 2,242 yards with 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Nagy will continue to watch Fields grow with the Bears. He believes greatness is in the future for the Bears’ young quarterback. He always has.

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PHOENIX — The Bears should “absolutely” stick with quarterback Justin Fields, said Michael Vick, the quarterback whom he outgained on the ground in 2022 for the second-best rushing season ever at the position.

“Good quarterbacks are hard to find,” Vick, the former Falcons and Eagles standout turned Fox analyst, said Tuesday. “You got a guy who just ran for 1,000 yards.”

To be precise: 1,143 yards, 104 more than Vick did in 2006 and 63 short of Lamar Jackson’s record, set in 2019. Fields needs to do more than that, though, in his second season in Luke Getsy’s system.

“That second year is paramount,” Vick said. “It’s very important throughout the offseason to learn what needs to happen. I think they’re a step ahead of the curve. You’ve just gotta make Justin a better passer and get an offense around him that’s going to really help him take it to the next level.”

That will, more than anything, determine how far Fields can go.

“I think your ceiling as a quarterback is all predicated on how well you’re coached and how good of a system and players are put around you,” Vick said. “You can have all the talent in the world and if you don’t have talent around you — if you don’t have the right coaching, the right play-calling, at the right times, at the right moments — then you will not succeed.

“A lot of these guys’ careers hang in the balance because they gotta get the right tutelage around them. It’s unfortunate, because that’s how the game goes. There’s not a lot of Andy Reids and Nick Siriannis around.”

A vote for Kafka

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he talked to Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill to endorse Mike Kafka for their head coaching vacancy. Kafka, who attended St. Rita of Cascia High School on the South Side and was a star quarterback at Northwestern, is a finalist.

“He’d do a great job,” Reid said. “He’d challenge the team. I think guys would respond. … I think he would be tremendous for the city, the Bidwill family.”

Reid’s Eagles drafted Kafka in the fourth round in 2010. Upon retirement, he served as an offensive graduate assistant for the Wildcats in 2016 before joining Reid’s Chiefs, first as an offensive quality control coach and then as quarterbacks coach.

He left last offseason to become the Giants’ offensive coordinator, where he helped Daniel Jones produce his best season.

“He taught me a ton, me coming from the ‘Air Raid’ and being an NFL quarterback,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “Even sometimes when I thought it was annoying, it’s made me a better quarterback, because he made sure I focused on the details every single time I stepped into the building.

“He would help [Cardinals quarterback] Kyler [Murray] a ton, too.”

Who’s punting?

Here’s an oddity for the Super Bowl: the Eagles have two punters, and Sirianni won’t say which one will play. Brett Kern is on the team’s 53-man roster, though Arryn Siposs, who punted in 13 games this season, is eligible to return from injured reserve. The right-footed punter hurt the ankle on his left leg Dec. 11.

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One of the nicer surprises in college basketball is taking place in Evanston, where Northwestern — 16-7 and in the upper half of the Big Ten — has a realistic shot to make the NCAA Tournament for only the second time.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Wildcats as a No. 9 seed in his latest bracket, which came out Tuesday.

Even more surprising is what the Wildcats are doing in other Big Ten cities. They have four conference road wins — at Michigan State, Indiana, Nebraska and Wisconsin — trailing only Purdue, the No. 1 team in the country, which has five.

“If you drop one at home,” coach Chris Collins told his team after last week’s home loss to Michigan, “you’ve got to go find one on the road.”

They went up to Wisconsin on Sunday and slugged out a 54-52 win. However this seemingly undermanned team is doing it — defense, mainly, and taking advantage of a down season overall throughout the league — it has played its way into the logjam behind the runaway Boilermakers.

Eight teams ranged from 8-4 to 6-6 in Big Ten play entering Tuesday. Gnarled together with Illinois and four other 7-5 squads were the Wildcats, who visit Ohio State on Thursday and will aim their slingshot at superstar big man Zach Edey and Purdue on Super Bowl Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

“We’ve got to play great defense,” Collins said. “We can’t make mental mistakes, we can’t have breakdowns, we can’t have people run out against us and have big runs because we haven’t been that kind of offensive team. I think the margin of error for our success is slim, but our guys have embraced that.”

The “margin of error” thing is a reality for everybody not named Purdue, which coaches around the Big Ten are wont to attribute to the physicality of the league, the unrelenting grind of its schedule and the outright brilliance of their colleagues. As if life is somehow any different in the Big 12, the Big East or the SEC.

Really, though, the Big Ten is just down, clogged with pretty good, but far from great, teams, as evidenced by its second-highest-ranked member, No. 18 Indiana, trailing six teams from the Big 12 alone in this week’s Top 25.

“No one said it was going to be easy,” Michigan coach Juwan Howard said after beating Northwestern on the heels of a 2-5 stretch.

But it wasn’t supposed to be this hard for the Hoosiers, the Illini or Michigan, to name a few.

None of them has a prayer to run down the Boilermakers, but somebody has to shake free of the logjam and grab the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament. That’s worth fighting for.

Purdue, 22-2 overall and sitting pretty in league play at 11-2, shouldn’t have to sweat too hard to become the first regular-season champion by a two-game margin since the Boilermakers of 2016-17. That was an even worse season for the Big Ten because there was no true heavy hitter at the top; those Boilers got the league’s best NCAA seed, a No. 4.

The last winner by a three-game margin was Michigan, which went 15-3 in 2013-14. At 12-6 were Michigan and Wisconsin, but the Badgers, like the Wolverines, got a No. 2 seed and, unlike the champs, made it all the way to the Final Four.

Should we talk about the last winner by a four-game margin? Let’s, because Purdue can — especially now that it’s a 20-game league schedule — pull it off. That was Michigan State at 15-3 in 2008-09, and talk about an also-ran logjam: Two teams finished 11-7, three were 10-8 and two others were 9-9. The No. 2-seeded Spartans fell to North Carolina in the national-title game.

When March Madness arrives, will Purdue be the Big Ten’s only hope to end a title drought that goes all the way back to Michigan State’s Mateen Cleaves-fueled run in 2000? Put one vote in the “yes” column. But all the also-rans in the logjam that make the field will give it their best shots anyway.

And if you’re Northwestern, you’re thrilled to be in this position. They’re not exactly thrilled at Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State and Iowa.

After the win at Wisconsin, Collins entered the visitors’ locker room pumping his fist and skittering on one foot, not the most rhythmic jig but a joyous one. It got him to the center of the room, where Wildcats players jumped up and down as they showered him with the contents of their Gatorade bottles.

It was hardly an uncommon scene in college basketball, but the Wildcats are still getting used to having reasons to get in on the act. Hey, they’re pretty good. The logjam is a much better place to be for some than it is for others.

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was shocked for two reasons when the Bears traded up to draft quarterback Mitch Trubisky second overall in 2017.

For one, Mahomes said, a third party had assured his camp that he was at the top of the Bears’ quarterback list. And for another, he’d also been told the Bears had no plans to draft a quarterback at all in the first round.

“It wasn’t that I thought the Bears were going to draft me,” he said. “But I was told that if they drafted a quarterback, I would be the quarterback they drafted. That wasn’t directed from their people, but that was told to my camp.”

That’s how covert former general manager Ryan Pace had been when searching for a passer in the draft — not even head coach John Fox knew what the Bears were considering a quarterback until late in the process.

Speaking Tuesday at the team hotel as his Chiefs continued preparing for Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Eagles, Mahomes admitted he was bewildered when Pace traded up one spot to draft the North Carolina quarterback.

“It surprised me a little bit,” Mahomes said. “But they told me they weren’t drafting a quarterback. So that was the most surprising thing of all …

“But they did say if a quarterback was drafted, I would be the guy they drafted.”

That’s a bitter pill for Bears fans to swallow. Mahomes is transcendent — he’s likely to win his second MVP Thursday and will play in his third Super Bowl on Sunday — while the Bears hope Justin Fields breaks their franchise’s passing drought.

Last week, Patrick Mahomes Sr., the former Major League Baseball pitcher, told WSCR-AM that the Bears “told him they were going to draft him” and the family “thought he was going to be the third pick overall and go to Chicago.”

The Bears trading up to draft Trubisky “kind of hurt him,” his dad told the station.

His son showed that he was keeping score when, after scoring against the Bears in 2019, he celebrated by counting to 10 on his fingers — the spot where the Chiefs drafted him.

Tuesday, Mahomes said that his dad “took it a little far” last week and overstated his family’s certainty about what the Bears would do in the draft.

“I was like, ‘I don’t know that it was that serious,'” he said.

The quarterback said he wasn’t “extremely worried about it” in real time.

“I was just happy to get drafted in the first round,” he said. “I’m not going to lie: I wanted to get drafted here to the Kansas City Chiefs. I think it’s well-documented.”

Part of the allure was his relationship with Matt Nagy, who, before being named the Bears head coach in 2018, was the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator. Nagy met with Mahomes during pre-draft meetings at the Chiefs’ facility. He told Mahomes what head coach Andy Reid would ask him about, schematically, the next day.

Nagy wanted him to ace the test. But the more Mahomes thinks about it, the more he wonders whether it was part of the interview all along.

“Nagy did give me the answers,” he said. “He threw me a little sneak peak of what we were going to have the next day. I still to this day think it was a test. Because if he gave me the sneak peak and I didn’t get the answers right it would have looked even worse. He wanted to make sure that I was gonna study.”

Mahomes told the Chiefs that other teams were telling him he could go in the top 12 or so in the draft. The Chiefs traded up from No. 27 and picked him 10th.

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Scott Wheeler writes about NHL prospects for The Athletic and he is very good at his job. His latest project is ranking all 32 NHL teams by their farm system and how good it is. Chicago Blackhawks fans might be impressed with where he has them.

Wheeler ranked Chicago at number five which is a very solid ranking for them less than a year removed from being in a really tough spot in terms of prospect talent in the system.

The only teams ranked ahead of them are the Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, and Minnesota Wild. That is really good for Kyle Davidson as it speaks volumes about how well he has done in the early stages of the rebuild.

Sometimes it takes multiple years of tearing it down and being bad to get it into the top five. Davidson did it coming into a situation where he had no first-round selections. The one that originally belonged to Chicago was a very high pick that was traded away for Seth Jones.

The Chicago Blackhawks have quickly added a lot to their farm system.

Despite entering the draft week with no picks, he found a way to make three first-round selections in 2022 and they were Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar, and Sam Rinzel. In addition, they have studs like Ethan Del Mastro, Colton Dach, and Lukas Reichel to be excited about. This is a very solid group.

Korchinski has a chance to become a star defenseman with his talents and we are seeing this year that Lukas Reichel might be a legit piece moving forward. However, the Hawks could be drafting someone this year that bumps them up even more.

If Chicago drafts one of Adam Fantilli, Leo Carlsson, or Matvei Michkov with pick two, three, or four, they will climb up this list even more. If they win the lottery and select Connor Bedard, it will be hard to deny them the very top spot.

The 2023 draft won’t be their only way of improving their farm either this year. They have a lot of players to trade away before the trade deadline that can land them more picks and prospects. If this prospect pool sees a lot of its players reach their potential, the Hawks will be good again soon.

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Tuesday, February 7, 2023

BIG NORTHERN

Byron at North Boone, 7:00

Rock Falls at Dixon, 7:00

Rockford Christian at Winnebago, 7:00

Rockford Lutheran at Stillman Valley, 7:00

CATHOLIC LEAGUE – CROSSOVER

De La Salle at St. Ignatius, 7:00

Marmion at St. Rita, 7:00

Montini at Fenwick, 7:00

Providence at Mount Carmel, 7:00

Providence-St. Mel at Loyola, 6:30

St. Laurence at Leo, 7:00

EAST SUBURBAN CATHOLIC

Carmel at Joliet Catholic, 7:00

Nazareth at Marist, 7:00

St. Patrick at Benet, 7:00

St. Viator at Notre Dame, 7:00

FOX VALLEY

Crystal Lake South at Cary-Grove, 7:00

Dundee-Crown at Prairie Ridge, 7:00

Hampshire at Crystal Lake Central, 7:00

Jacobs at Burlington Central, 7:00

McHenry at Huntley, 7:00

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL

North Shore at Latin, 6:00

INTERSTATE EIGHT

LaSalle-Peru at Morris, 7:00

LITTLE TEN

LaMoille at IMSA, 5:30

METRO SUBURBAN – BLUE

IC Catholic at Aurora Christian, 7:30

Riverside-Brookfield at Wheaton Academy, 7:30

St. Francis at Timothy Christian, 7:30

NORTH SUBURBAN

Lake Forest at Warren, 7:00

Lake Zurich at Mundelein, 7:00

Libertyville at Zion-Benton, 7:00

Stevenson at Waukegan, 7:00

NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY

Grant at Antioch, 7:00

Grayslake Central at Lakes, 7:00

Grayslake North at Round Lake, 7:00

North Chicago at Wauconda, 7:00

SOUTH SUBURBAN – BLUE

Oak Forest at Thornton Fr. South, 6:30

SOUTH SUBURBAN – RED

Reavis at Evergreen Park, 6:00

Richards at Oak Lawn, 6:30

SOUTH SUBURBAN – CROSSOVER

Eisenhower at Thornton Fr. North, 6:30

Shepard at Bremen, 6:00

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE – EAST

Joliet West at Plainfield South, 6:30

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – BLUE

Lincoln-Way East at Lockport, 6:30

Sandburg at Homewood-Flossmoor, 6:30

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – RED

Bradley-Bourbonnais at Lincoln-Way Central, 6:30

Stagg at Andrew, 6:00

UPSTATE EIGHT

Glenbard East at East Aurora, 6:30

Glenbard South at Bartlett, 7:00

Larkin at Streamwood, 7:00

South Elgin at Fenton, 7:00

West Chicago at Elgin, 7:00

NON CONFERENCE

Addison Trail at Niles West, 6:30

Bolingbrook at Neuqua Valley, 7:00

Brother Rice at La Lumiere-White (IN), 7:00

Catalyst-Maria at Taft, 6:30

Christian Heritage at Westminster Christian, 7:30

Cissna Park at Tri-Point, 7:00

Clifton Central at Peotone, 7:00

Comer at Southland, 7:00

Corliss at Julian, 6:00

CPSA at Aurora Central, 6:00

Crossroads at Newark, 7:00

DeKalb at Rochelle, 7:00

DePue at Henry-Senachwine, 7:00

Earlville at Woodland, 7:00

Elk Grove at Fremd, 7:00

Evanston at Oak Park-River Forest, 6:30

Families of Faith at Illinois Lutheran, 7:00

Fieldcrest at Putnam County, 7:00

Glenbrook South at Conant, 7:00

Highland Park at Lake Forest Academy, 6:30

Indian Creek at Mooseheart, 6:45

Leland at Christian Life, 5:30

Leyden at Argo, 6:00

Maine East at Hoffman Estates, 7:00

Manteno at St. Anne, 7:00

Oswego at Naperville Central, 7:00

Phoenix at Hubbard, 5:00

Pritzker at ACERO-Soto, 5:00

Prospect at Hinsdale Central, 7:00

Proviso West at Maine South, CNL

Reed-Custer at Beecher, 6:45

Richmond-Burton at Genoa-Kingston, 7:00

Rolling Meadows at Glenbrook North, 7:00

Schaumburg at Lane, 5:00

Seneca at Streator, 6:45

Serena at Marquette, 7:00

Sycamore at Marengo, 7:00

Trinity (Kankakee) at Grant Park, 7:00

Tri-Valley at Roanoke-Benson, 7:00

Universal at Reavis, 6:00

University High at Northside, 6:30

Waubonsie Valley at Oswego East, 6:30

Westlake Christian at Alden-Hebron, 6:30

Westmont at Lisle, 6:45

Willowbrook at York, 7:00

Wilmington at Gardner-So. Wilmington, 6:45

NOBLE LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

Quarter-Finals

Bulls Prep vs. UIC Prep, at Jordan Ctr, 5:30

Johnson vs. Rowe-Clark, at Hales, 5:30

Butler vs. Hansberry, at Mansueto, 5:30

Comer vs. Noble Academy, at Hales, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

Quarter-Finals

Curie at Young, 5:00

North Lawndale at Simeon, 5:00

Phillips at Kenwood, 5:00

Perspectives-Lead at Hyde Park, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE PLAYOFFS – CONSOLATION

at Credit Union 1 Arena (UIC)

Wells vs. Von Steuben, 7:00

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Tuesday, February 7, 2023

BIG NORTHERN

Byron at North Boone, 7:00

Rock Falls at Dixon, 7:00

Rockford Christian at Winnebago, 7:00

Rockford Lutheran at Stillman Valley, 7:00

CATHOLIC LEAGUE – CROSSOVER

De La Salle at St. Ignatius, 7:00

Marmion at St. Rita, 7:00

Montini at Fenwick, 7:00

Providence at Mount Carmel, 7:00

Providence-St. Mel at Loyola, 6:30

St. Laurence at Leo, 7:00

EAST SUBURBAN CATHOLIC

Carmel at Joliet Catholic, 7:00

Nazareth at Marist, 7:00

St. Patrick at Benet, 7:00

St. Viator at Notre Dame, 7:00

FOX VALLEY

Crystal Lake South at Cary-Grove, 7:00

Dundee-Crown at Prairie Ridge, 7:00

Hampshire at Crystal Lake Central, 7:00

Jacobs at Burlington Central, 7:00

McHenry at Huntley, 7:00

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL

North Shore at Latin, 6:00

INTERSTATE EIGHT

LaSalle-Peru at Morris, 7:00

LITTLE TEN

LaMoille at IMSA, 5:30

METRO SUBURBAN – BLUE

IC Catholic at Aurora Christian, 7:30

Riverside-Brookfield at Wheaton Academy, 7:30

St. Francis at Timothy Christian, 7:30

NORTH SUBURBAN

Lake Forest at Warren, 7:00

Lake Zurich at Mundelein, 7:00

Libertyville at Zion-Benton, 7:00

Stevenson at Waukegan, 7:00

NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY

Grant at Antioch, 7:00

Grayslake Central at Lakes, 7:00

Grayslake North at Round Lake, 7:00

North Chicago at Wauconda, 7:00

SOUTH SUBURBAN – BLUE

Oak Forest at Thornton Fr. South, 6:30

SOUTH SUBURBAN – RED

Reavis at Evergreen Park, 6:00

Richards at Oak Lawn, 6:30

SOUTH SUBURBAN – CROSSOVER

Eisenhower at Thornton Fr. North, 6:30

Shepard at Bremen, 6:00

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE – EAST

Joliet West at Plainfield South, 6:30

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – BLUE

Lincoln-Way East at Lockport, 6:30

Sandburg at Homewood-Flossmoor, 6:30

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN – RED

Bradley-Bourbonnais at Lincoln-Way Central, 6:30

Stagg at Andrew, 6:00

UPSTATE EIGHT

Glenbard East at East Aurora, 6:30

Glenbard South at Bartlett, 7:00

Larkin at Streamwood, 7:00

South Elgin at Fenton, 7:00

West Chicago at Elgin, 7:00

NON CONFERENCE

Addison Trail at Niles West, 6:30

Bolingbrook at Neuqua Valley, 7:00

Brother Rice at La Lumiere-White (IN), 7:00

Catalyst-Maria at Taft, 6:30

Christian Heritage at Westminster Christian, 7:30

Cissna Park at Tri-Point, 7:00

Clifton Central at Peotone, 7:00

Comer at Southland, 7:00

Corliss at Julian, 6:00

CPSA at Aurora Central, 6:00

Crossroads at Newark, 7:00

DeKalb at Rochelle, 7:00

DePue at Henry-Senachwine, 7:00

Earlville at Woodland, 7:00

Elk Grove at Fremd, 7:00

Evanston at Oak Park-River Forest, 6:30

Families of Faith at Illinois Lutheran, 7:00

Fieldcrest at Putnam County, 7:00

Glenbrook South at Conant, 7:00

Highland Park at Lake Forest Academy, 6:30

Indian Creek at Mooseheart, 6:45

Leland at Christian Life, 5:30

Leyden at Argo, 6:00

Maine East at Hoffman Estates, 7:00

Manteno at St. Anne, 7:00

Oswego at Naperville Central, 7:00

Phoenix at Hubbard, 5:00

Pritzker at ACERO-Soto, 5:00

Prospect at Hinsdale Central, 7:00

Proviso West at Maine South, CNL

Reed-Custer at Beecher, 6:45

Richmond-Burton at Genoa-Kingston, 7:00

Rolling Meadows at Glenbrook North, 7:00

Schaumburg at Lane, 5:00

Seneca at Streator, 6:45

Serena at Marquette, 7:00

Sycamore at Marengo, 7:00

Trinity (Kankakee) at Grant Park, 7:00

Tri-Valley at Roanoke-Benson, 7:00

Universal at Reavis, 6:00

University High at Northside, 6:30

Waubonsie Valley at Oswego East, 6:30

Westlake Christian at Alden-Hebron, 6:30

Westmont at Lisle, 6:45

Willowbrook at York, 7:00

Wilmington at Gardner-So. Wilmington, 6:45

NOBLE LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

Quarter-Finals

Bulls Prep vs. UIC Prep, at Jordan Ctr, 5:30

Johnson vs. Rowe-Clark, at Hales, 5:30

Butler vs. Hansberry, at Mansueto, 5:30

Comer vs. Noble Academy, at Hales, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

Quarter-Finals

Curie at Young, 5:00

North Lawndale at Simeon, 5:00

Phillips at Kenwood, 5:00

Perspectives-Lead at Hyde Park, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE PLAYOFFS – CONSOLATION

at Credit Union 1 Arena (UIC)

Wells vs. Von Steuben, 7:00

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The Chicago Blackhawks sent Seth Jones to All-Star Weekend. He did a great job representing himself, the city, and the organization. Now, he is back with the team as they get set to finish out this 2022-23 season.

We know that this season is not going to end with them competing for a postseason spot but that is by design. A successful season would be seeing them land in the top four of the draft so they can help their rebuild take another step at the 2023 NHL Draft.

Obviously, they want to have the best odds at winning the lottery so they can select Connor Bedard. Nothing is guaranteed but that would change the franchise for a long time. Adam Fantilli, Matvei Michkov, and Leo Carlsson aren’t half bad either so getting into the top four is big.

The Hawks are back at it as the 31st team in the league out of 32. They will be hosting the 30th-ranked team in the Anaheim Ducks in this one. Both of these teams would love to win the lottery but there is a lot of hockey to be played.

The Chicago Blackhawks are finally back in action after All-Star Weekend.

Jonathan Toews won’t be playing in this one as he is dealing with a non-COVID-related illness. We don’t know if Toews is going to be traded (he is on an expiring contract) but this is how the Hawks might look in the not-so-distant future. Obviously, other players are in the same boat.

Chicago is actually tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the least amount of points in the league but they are in second to last instead of dead last because they have fewer games played. They will catch that number as the Blue Jackets finish out their bye-week this week.

Obviously, guys like Patrick Kane, Seth Jones, and Max Domi amongst others have made some big plays this year despite the team’s lack of winning success.

The Anaheim Ducks can say the same thing about some of their players. Guys like Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry have been a joy to watch but their team just isn’t winning behind them.

Each franchise is hoping to see things get turned around sooner rather than later. That is why this game is so important for the tank wars but neither team is going to see their players care much about that. Everyone outside of the front office wants to win so it will be interesting to see what happens.

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Hyde Park coach Jerrel Oliver thought the new player in the program, Homewood-Flossmoor transfer Jurrell Baldwin, would be a “glue guy.”

Even after watching Baldwin in fall open gyms, the first-year coach says he had no idea or expected the 6-5 junior to be doing the things he’s doing for the Thunderbirds this season.

“I did not expect this,” Oliver admits. “I saw some things in the fall, but I did not see it trending this way.”

What Baldwin has done after playing on the sophomore team last year at Homewood-Flossmoor is become the go-to player for a top 25 team. The do-it-all threat who can play any perimeter position is averaging 18.1 points a game while hitting 57 three-pointers on the year and regularly posting double-doubles.

“To do what he’s done while playing in the league we play in?” Oliver said. “It’s mind-boggling. And his upside is just huge.”

Baldwin has a vintage offensive game. Whether it’s showcasing a soft jumper, facilitating with outstanding passing skills or turning into an isolation scorer, Baldwin has a knack for impacting in a big way on the offensive end.

Baldwin is one of several breakout players in the Class of 2024. Here are four other juniors who are in the midst of big, breakout seasons.

Jack Stanton, Downers Grove North

The 6-1 combo guard has proven to be a spark-plug scorer, thanks in large part to his perimeter shooting and his ability to get his shot off. He thrives both off the dribble with pull-up jumpers, in transition and with catch-and-shoot threes in the halfcourt.

Stanton, who remains widely under-the-radar, has been terrific. He’s putting up a team-high 15.9 points a game for a team that’s 23-3. A deadly sniper, Stanton is shooting an impressive 46 percent from beyond the arc while making a heavy dose of them with 79 threes made on the season.

Luke Williams, Naperville North

There are very few players who are more important and do more for their team than what Williams does for coach Gene Nolan’s Huskies. He’s a tone-setting player.

The numbers are impressive for the 6-1 guard — 21 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 3.1 steals a game — but more importantly he’s an energizer at both ends of the floor.

A top-flight football prospect as a wide receiver, Williams is not only a strong, compact guard who is an absolute load when attacking downhill in the open court, but he’s a threat shooting the basketball as well.

Connor May, Palatine

An argument could be made that May “broke out” a year ago when he averaged 11 points and 4.8 rebounds. Those are impressive numbers for a sophomore.

But the 6-6 swing forward has put a charge into those numbers this season to the tune of 18.4 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks a game. May scores in a variety of ways, whether it’s at the basket, with mid-range jumpers or knocking down one of his 32 three-pointers on the year.

May has been instrumental in leading Palatine to 20 wins and to the top of the Mid-Suburban League West.

Stefan Cicic, Riverside-Brookfield

Big men come along slowly. Nearly every single one of them. Yet there is always the danger of heaping too much responsibility or expectations on young, promising big men.

But Cicic, the quintessential developmental big man, has taken a big step forward in his junior season. Cicic, who is pushing towards a legit 6-11, has seen his production skyrocket. He’s averaging 16.3 points, 9.6 rebounds and two assists a game while blocking 29 shots.

Cicic, a mountain of a presence inside, is converting 66 percent from the field and with his mechanics and touch shows plenty of promise shooting the basketball for a 5-man.

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