Top 10 Best Chicago Blackhawks Players of All Time

The Chicago Blackhawks are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having been founded in 1926. Since then, they’ve had one of the most storied histories of any team in the league, including six Stanley Cup wins. They’ve had a number of highly talented players on their rosters over the years, but these ten players are the best in franchise history. 

Who Are the Best Chicago Blackhawks Hockey Players of All Time?

1. Bobby Hull
2. Patrick Kane
3. Stan Mikita
4. Tony Esposito
5. Jonathon Toews
6. Glenn Hall
7. Pierre Pilote
8. Denis Savard
9. Chris Chelios
10. Steve Larmer

1. Bobby Hull

• 12-time All-Star
• Two-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner
• Three-time Art Ross Trophy winner

Bobby Hull is the greatest Chicago Blackhawks player of all time. Hull played for the team from 1957 to 1972. In that time, he amassed a downright preposterous amount of awards hardware including 12 appearances on the All-Star list. He was also awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy on two different occasions as the league’s most valuable player. Additionally, he won the Art Ross trophy three times, which is awarded to the league’s top scorer at the end of the season.

As a member of the Blackhawks, he led the league in goals scored during seven different seasons. In the playoffs, Hull managed to win one Stanley Cup in Chicago, and he was absolutely vital to the team in doing so. In that postseason, he recorded 14 points and had nearly 50 shots on goal. By the time his career with the Blackhawks came to a close, Hull had recorded 604 goals, the most in franchise history.

2. Patrick Kane

• 2012-2013 Conn Smythe Trophy winner
• Three-time Stanley Cup winner
• Four-time All-Star

Patrick Kane is the best player in the recent history of the Chicago Blackhawks, and he’s the second-best all-time. Kane joined the team as a right-wing in 2007 and would go on to have one of the most successful careers in team history. His 1,225 points are second on the all-time Chicago leaderboard and he scored 446 total goals with the team.

By the time Kane ultimately left the team during the 2022-2023 season, he had amassed quite a few awards and accolades. Chief among these would be leading the Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup wins. One of those winning playoff campaigns (2012-2013) earned Kane the Conn Smythe award. That postseason, Kane scored 19 points in 23 games played. Two seasons later when the Blackhawks won the Cup again, Kane scored 23 points, 11 of which were goals. In the regular season, Kane’s play was strong enough to be selected to four All-Star teams. 

3. Stan Mikita

• Two Hart Memorial Trophy wins
• Four-time Art Ross Trophy winner
• Eight-time All-Star

Stan Mikita is one of the most decorated players in the history of the Chicago Blackhawks. Over the course of his career in the NHL, which was spent only as a member of the Blackhawks between 1958 and 1980, Mikiti found himself the winner of quite a few awards. Similar to Bobby Hull, Mikita only won one Stanley Cup with the team, but his regular season honors include some of the sport’s highest honors.

Mikita won the Hart Memorial Trophy in back-to-back seasons between 1966 and 1968. He also won the Art Ross Trophy in both of those seasons as the league’s top scorer. Mikita had won the Ross Trophy in consecutive seasons a few years prior in 1963-1965. Stan Mikita still stands as the top points scorer in Blackhawks history with 1,467. That excellence is what yielded him eight total All-Star list appearances. Stan Mikita is undoubtedly one of the most loyal and excellent players in franchise history.

4. Tony Esposito

• 1969 Calder Memorial Trophy winner
• Three-time Vezina Trophy winner
• Five-time All-Star

Tony Esposito is the best goalie in Chicago Blackhawks history. In Esposito’s first full season in the NHL, he had one of the most excellent debuts in league history. That season saw Esposito lead the league in wins, save percentage, and shutouts. He was rewarded by winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s best rookie, the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goalie, and was named an All-Star. Esposito actually almost won the Hart Memorial Trophy as well that season, finishing in second place.

Esposito would go on to play the rest of his career with the Blackhawks. In that time, he would win two more Vezina Trophies (1971-1972 and 1973-1974) and be named an All-Star four more times. Esposito would lead the NHL in saves in five total seasons and in save percentage twice. Esposito was so excellent that he finished in the top ten of Hart Memorial Trophy voting in seven different seasons. 

5. Jonathon Toews

• Three-time Stanley Cup winner
• 2009-2010 Conn Smythe Trophy winner
• Sixth all-time in franchise goals

Alongside Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews led the Chicago Blackhawks to new heights in the 2010s. Thanks in large part to Toews’ excellent play at center, the Chicago Blackhawks were able to win three Stanley Cups between 2009 and 2015. Toews played a crucial role in doing so, anchoring the offense with his strong goal-scoring ability.

As of the end of the 2023 season, Toews sits at sixth all-time in total goals scored by a Blackhawks player. In his first season in the league, he was named to the All-Rookie team and came in third place in voting for the Calder Memorial Trophy. He was named an All-Star in the 2012-2013 season in which he scored 23 goals. Toews was similarly excellent in the playoffs, even winning the Conn Smythe Trophy for the 2009-2010 campaign when he scored 29 points across 22 games. Across his career with the team, Toews has 45 goals in the playoffs. 

6. Glenn Hall

• Three-time Vezina Trophy winner
• 1967-1968 Conn Smythe Trophy winner
• 11-time All-Star

Glenn Hall was one of the best goalies in Chicago Blackhawks history. Hall had an illustrious career in the NHL, playing from 1952 to 1971. He played for the Blackhawks between 1957 and 1967. In that span, he made the All-Star team every season except for two and won two of his three career Vezina Trophies as the league’s best goalie. Perhaps his best season with the team was in 1962-1963 when he led the league in wins and save percentage with a .918.

During his time as a Blackhawk, he even finished in the top six of Hart Memorial Trophy voting in seven seasons. Hall was also an extremely durable player, finishing as the leading player in minutes played in five of his seasons with the Blackhawks. In the playoffs, Hall was similarly effective with save percentages as high as .937, which he managed to have in the 1960-1961 playoffs. 

7. Pierre Pilote

• Three-time Norris Trophy winner
• 1960-1961 Stanley Cup winner
• Eight-time All-Star

Pierre Pilote is the best defenseman to ever play for the Chicago Blackhawks. Pilote spent nearly the entire career with the team between 1955 and 1968, after which he played a single season with the Toronto Maple Leafs before retiring. During his time in Chicago, Pilote was one of, if not the best defenders in the whole league. As such, Pilote won three James Norris Trophies which are given to the league’s best defender every year.

If it wasn’t enough that he won three trophies, he actually won them in three consecutive years between 1962 and 1965. He also finished in second place for the trophy in three additional seasons. His consistency was also on display by being selected to the All-Star team in an impressive eight straight seasons. Pilote also had a reputation for being a highly durable player, as he hardly ever missed time due to injuries.

8. Denis Savard

• Nine-time All-Star Game selection
• 1982-1983 Second All-Star Team award
• 377 goals as a Blackhawks

Denis Savard was yet another dominant center for the Chicago Blackhawks. Savard had a long career with the team which spanned from 1980 to 1990, but he ultimately rejoined the team at the end of his career from 1994 to his retirement in 1997. Savard found consistent success with the team, scoring 377 total goals, good for fourth on the all-time list. His best season as a Blackhawk was in 1982-1983 when he scored 121 total points, of which 35 were goals. He made his only appearance on the All-Star list that season and even finished third in the voting for the Hart Memorial Trophy.

As a member of the Blackhawks, Savard actually had five seasons in which he scored greater than 100 points. He was an incredibly talented goal-scorer, as also evidenced by his 15 career hat tricks. Thanks to his loyalty to the team and consistent ability to put the puck in the net, Denis Savard is one of the best Blackhawks of all time. 

9. Chris Chelios

• Three-time Norris Trophy winner
• Three-time Stanley Cup winner
• Seven-time All-Star

Chris Chelios is one of the best defensemen to ever play in the NHL. Chelios had a spectacularly long career in the league, joining in 1983 as a member of the Montreal Canadiens, and retiring decades later in 2010 after a season with the Atlanta Thrashers. In between, Chelios spent nine seasons in Chicago with the Blackhawks and played some of the best hockey of his career in that time.

Of his three total James Norris Trophy wins, two of them came when he was playing in Chicago. He also garnered five of his seven All-Star appearances when he was playing defense for the Blackhawks. As a defenseman, Chelios was incredibly versatile. After his nine years in Chicago came to a close, he had scored 487 points for the team. In the 1992-1993 season (in which he won the Norris Trophy), Chelios actually scored 73 points, which matched his career-high set a few seasons prior. 

10. Steve Larmer

• 1982-1983 Calder Trophy winner
• Two-time NHL All Star Game selection
• 406 goals with Chicago

Steve Larmer had a long career playing right wing for the Chicago Blackhawks (13 years). Larmer was an immensely talented goal scorer, as evidenced by his 406 goals scored as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks. This puts him at fourth all-time in franchise history. In total, he scored a more-than-respectable 923 points in his career with the team. Said career got off to a very strong start when Larmer won the Calder Memorial Trophy in his first full season in the NHL. He played 80 games that season, and in doing so scored 43 goals and 47 assists. He was also named to the All-Rookie team that year.

In the 1990-1991 season, Larmer recorded his first and only 100-point season with 101 total points coming from 44 goals and 57 assists. As a further testament to Larmer’s strong goal-scoring skills, he managed to complete nine hat tricks during his time as a Blackhawk. 

Honorable Mentions

• Tony Amonte
• Ed Belfour
• Doug Bentley
• Charlie Gardiner
• Keith Magnuson
• Pit Martin
• Bill Mosienko
• Jim Pappin
• Jeremy Roenick
• Doug Wilson

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