Analyzing the Blackhawks’ decision to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen – The Hockey Writers – Chicago Blackhawks

If you told most hockey fans that their team would field 11 forwards and seven defensemen on any given night, they would probably grimace and complain. After all, changing just 11 forwards (instead of the usual 12) would mess up the forward line mix. Freezing seven defenders (instead of the usual six) can lead to inconsistencies between defensive partners. Besides, no one seems to be winning in this lineup!

However, new Chicago Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill has used this unconventional lineup in three of the Blackhawks’ first five games. When asked about it, he said he plans to do quite a lot of it in the future. So what was his thought process behind this? Will this work for the Blackhawks? Let’s discuss it.

Balancing defensive constraints and ice time

Blashill deployed 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the first time in the Blackhawks’ second game of the season, a 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins on October 9. When asked about it after the game, the coach attributed it mostly to wanting to get every available defensive player on the field.

First, I want to get guys into the lineup. So (I) tried to come up with a plan to try to get different players involved. I don’t want to have to play multiple games without anyone participating in one of the games. So this is an easy way.

He also talked about how that balances the defensive time and responsibilities of the right-shooting backstop.

This makes the minutes on the right side slightly more even. Louis (Crevier) punishes us for killing. Murphy (Connor Murphy), Louis is like this. Hope this helps. I didn’t watch it, and I’m sure the minutes were a little late (in the game). But it also helps improve his (Crewell’s) playing time.

The Blackhawks faced off against the Florida Panthers in their first game of the season, and Blashill was referring to blueshirt Sam Rinzel’s whopping 25 and 18 minutes of playing time. After all, Linzel is the top defensive combination and the quarterback of the first powerful offensive unit and contributed in the penalty shootout. Blashill admitted it was too much ice time for the young defenseman during this stretch.

Putting Louis Creville in the next game is an obvious way to offset those heavy minutes. Sure enough, Linzel’s ice time against the Bruins was a much more manageable 19:03. Crevier entered the lineup and played 8 minutes and 22 seconds; at 1:27, he was killed by a penalty kick.

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The second time the Blackhawks used the 11/7 lineup was on October 13 against the Utah Mammoths. After this game, Blashill expanded the balance on the right side of the defense and took into account the team’s inexperience on the blue line.

The reason is we have a lot of very, very young defenders. I’ll give you two things. One is, when you have a very, very young D, you really don’t know what you’re going to get every night (laughs). So when there are seven people, if certain people aren’t there, the likelihood of certain people being on the field increases.

Perhaps more specifically, it allows us to balance our time. I think Louis Crevier is a great penalty killer. So Murphy (Connor Murphy) and Kreves can initiate these killings. If one of them is not in the box. Rims (Sam Rinzel) and (Artyom) Levshunov got playing time. So, on the right side, it really balances out those minutes, which I think is a positive thing.

Basically, Brashear uses Murphy and Krivier for the penalty kill and Linzel and Krivier for the power play. Considering everyone except Murphy is relatively young and inexperienced, this gives the team more options and allows them to take advantage of “hot” hands. When given in this context, it makes sense.

Offensive Advantage: Double Shift Bader

At first glance, one might think this strategy would disrupt the offense without four different defensive line combinations. But Blashill sees this as a way to better utilize young superstar Connor Bedard, especially in away games where opponents can better decide games because of the late changes. Blashill said after the Bruins’ road game,

It’s easier to do that on the road than at home, or I would say, more advantageous. Because it’s a harder game. What this means to us is that it allows us to play Connor (Bad) with different people and have them appear in different looks. So sometimes it’s a lot harder to match that from an opponent’s perspective.

Blashill has had some experience with the 11/7 lineup before, but he admitted before the St. Louis Blues game on Oct. 14 that it only works for certain teams and certain situations.

I’ve done some in Detroit before. Are the numbers good in Tampa? I think some teams do work. Some teams don’t. Kupp (Jon Cooper, head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning) and I coached each other as teenagers, so I think in youth hockey we both probably went 11/7 at times.

To me, this is a good fit for your team. I think if we look back, there were years where we didn’t do much and there were years where we did a lot. In this particular team, it balances the responsibilities. Sometimes making things more difficult for your opponent.

The coach did admit that keeping the forward unit cohesive could be tricky at times.

In fact, I’ve done it, and I’ve seen Coop do it, so you kind of get a feel for it. Sometimes it depends on which line you want to leave, and what the players are. Like someone like Griner (Ryan Green). I love seeing Connor (Bade) get some ice time with him. Or Frankie (Frank Nazar) to spend some ice time with him. Because he’s a guy (Green) who has skills and can make some plays. So it makes sense. But I think you have to really make sure that you have a plan and that you don’t get too caught up in the matchup because then it becomes a little bit difficult.

The Blackhawks repeated this deployment on October 15 against the St. Louis Blues. Ryan Greene scored his first NHL goal while lining up with Bedard and Lukas Reichel.

Ryan Greene scored his first career NHL goal and Chicago’s offensive explosion continued in St. Louis. #blackhawks pic.twitter.com/yCRUAEdHQb

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 16, 2025

Kudos to Green for getting praise from Brashear and ultimately making it happen with a goal. Reichel provided the primary assist for Green’s goal, while Bader provided the secondary assist.

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Reichel also benefited greatly from having Bedard on the ice with him. Bedard provided the second assist for Reichel’s second goal of the night.

Crevier Developing Characters

Obviously, the use of seven defenders favors defender Crevier. Brashear was impressed. He was asked how the 24-year-old earned his trust.

Well, honestly, he played well. He’s 6 feet tall and skates very well (Crevier is 6 feet 8 inches tall). I think his skating may have improved. I can’t say for sure, but we’ve done some drills that put D in difficult positions, and his skating is actually pretty good. So you’re a very good defender at this point. If you have good body position, good club, but he does a great job with that. The killing here has been really well done since day one.

Brashear continued,

Louis was in that game and I thought it was great for him as well. It shows he’s got that physicality and he’s going to bring even more upside and physicality to the table. If he can bring that to his game and with that size, kid, you can be a really good player.

Blashill was referring to the Blackhawks’ fiery home opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 11, when Crevier made contact with Canadiens defenseman Kayden Goule after taking a hard hit on Frank Nazar. (Excerpted from “Chicago Blackhawks fumble with 15.7 seconds left, lose 3-2 to Montreal Canadiens in home opener,” Chicago Tribune – 10/11/2025)

Crevier even contributed offensively. He scored in an overtime loss to the Bruins (October 9).

All in all, Crevier has shown his worth and found a niche that suits his strengths. So Blashill wanted to utilize his services.

11/7 Is the lineup good for the Blackhawks?

For the record, the Blackhawks used this lineup three times in five games. They earned one point in said game (4-3 in overtime against the Bruins) and had their first two wins (3-1 against the Mammoths, 8-3 against the Blues). In the two games the Blackhawks played with traditional lineups of 12 forwards and 6 defensemen, they lost both (3-2 to the Panthers and 3-2 to the Canadiens).

Obviously, there’s more to these wins and losses than just roster configuration, but also a very small sample size. But it’s still a takeaway.

Will deploying this lineup ultimately be a disadvantage? Are there consequences for breaking the law? Rotating line combinations may lead to less cohesion and less scoring in the long run. That certainly doesn’t appear to be the case from the scores above, but can it eventually catch up to the Blackhawks? After all, it’s the forwards who usually score the goals, and scoring fewer goals on any given night could be a problem.

Blashill’s first reason for going with 11 forwards and seven defensemen is that he wants to make sure he gets players into the lineup. But forward Sam Rafferty has only featured in two games so far, as has Rachel. Reichel might not even have played in the final game (against the Blues) if Nick Foligno hadn’t been sidelined for family reasons. Additionally, Landon Slagter (lower body injury) should return to the lineup any day now, adding a forward to the puzzle.

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But every game is situational, and we don’t know how many times Blashill intends to run this type of lineup. At some point, this may not make much sense. But for now, there appear to be some good arguments for using 11 forwards and seven defenders.

It will certainly be interesting to see how this develops.