With Halloween coming up this Saturday, I present a two-part Trick-or-Treat special with today’s blog focusing on tricks then a blog due out later this week will spotlight treats.
For tricks, I will discuss the many things that scare me about the upcoming season for the Blackhawks. Then for treats, I will share thoughts on what excites me about 2020-21.
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1. Members of the core get disgruntled and ask to be traded.
My gut feeling is Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane will remain loyal to the franchise and ultimately retire as lifelong Blackhawks. However, I can’t say the same for Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook.
All four of them may be on the same page with management today. If push comes to shove, though, they could sing a different tune.
While I think Stan Bowman is diplomatic with his words about the core and how they fit in with the team, I don’t think Jeremy Colliton is as tactful and isn’t shy to outright say they may not be around.
From last week’s
NBC Sports Chicago podcast interview with Colliton:
"And hey listen, [the core] may not all be around for [being Cup contenders again], and that's part of the business. Everyone goes through that. There's turnover, there's change, timing doesn't always line up. But at the same time, we still need to do what's best for the group, so we're going to do that...They need to be on board with the things we're talking about."
Kudos for the honesty but that frankness could cause a schism -- or a deeper one if it already exists -- between him and the core especially as these comments are being made now in the offseason.
Disagreements in the heat of battle that is the regular season could ratchet up the tension and eventually hit a boiling point if not handled appropriately.
2. Colliton continues to employ systems that the players struggle to implement.
Watching the puck and not covering the opponent, providing zero support for teammates who are forechecking and backchecking, and being unable to apply fundamentals of defense when structure breaks down are the cause of failure to play within the systems.
They could also be the byproducts of this failure, too. It’s not good either way.
The debate is whether that’s on the coaches or on the players. I argue that both parties have a responsibility so it’s a two-way street requiring feedback mechanisms to make necessary tweaks.
Coaches need to develop systems that are sustainable and consistently applied especially in the worst of times. Assuming this can happen, then it’s on the players next to execute.
3. Colliton continues to make questionable in-game decisions.
In a similar vein, it’s deflating to the team when Colliton makes sub-optimal decisions at crucial junctures of a game that have players and fans alike scratching their heads.
Logic would have it that the best players who can get a particular job done -- whether that’s scoring a goal to force a tie, killing a penalty, or holding a lead -- are the ones who should be on the ice.
Yet, Colliton’s stated preference is to give the youngsters the experience in those critical situations so they learn even if they fail in the process. I think that’s fine in many instances of a game but not when the game is on the line.
Call me old school but that’s why you pay your best players top dollar: to play in those game-breaking scenarios and elevate the team to the desired outcome.
4. The defense still gives up a ton of high-danger shots.
This concern is related to #2 above and can exacerbate #10 below.
Part of the problem is as described earlier with too much puck watching and an inability to provide support for those actually defending.
Another part is a low compete level across all 200 feet and not contesting every puck in order to make the other team earn every nook and cranny of ice.
Playing back will constantly be a game of reacting to others rather than creating your own fate. Take the game to the opposition, not the other way around.
Something else that could work in Chicago’s favor -- at least when he’s on the ice -- is having a behemoth defender in Nikita Zadorov patrolling the back end. It’s not his monstrous hits but another element.
In the aforementioned podcast interview, one Colliton comment I did agree with was how important Zadorov’s ability is to pin a player against the boards to subdue pressure and help get the puck flipped.
5. The powerplay stays stagnant.
It’s been described many times before: for a group of dynamic players composing both units, the powerplay itself is collectively far from dynamic.
Sometimes it’s too reliant on Kane. Sometimes it’s unnervingly motionless. Sometimes it’s not creative or pushing the pace. No matter what, it’s pretty darn predictable and easy to defend.
One drum I beat constantly is one of Eddie Olczyk’s catchphrases: "Move the puck, move yourself." That simple lesson will get the other team moving which starts to open up passing and shooting lanes.
There are times when I think the best strategy may be no strategy. Just let the players run and gun with their skill and hockey sense.
Two seasons ago early in Colliton’s tenure, they did that for a brief spell and it worked.
6. Sophomore slumps hit for Kirby Dach, Dominik Kubalik, and Adam Boqvist.
Of this trio, Kubalik had the most prolific rookie year. Dach was on another level in the postseason. Boqvist showed glimmers of hope while his learning curve was expectedly bumpy.
As much as they could climb up the development ladder, the fear is one, two, or all three of them hit a wall in their sophomore years.
Growing pains are still to be anticipated but year-long doldrums could be worrisome.
It wouldn’t be the end of the world yet an organization investing in a youth movement can’t afford to have the best of the young nucleus going simultaneously south.
If they do, pray for other youngsters to step up.
7. Alex DeBrincat’s goal scoring regresses even more.
Many excuses were made for why DeBrincat’s offensive output dipped last season.
Was he nursing a nagging injury? Was his workout regimen last offseason throwing his game off kilter? Was he too focused on being well rounded at the expense of his bread and butter?
The hope is that he regresses to his prior scoring pace rather than regress to Jonathan Cheechoo status.
Cheechoo went from 28 goals up to 56 then down to 37, 23, 12, and 5 before playing his career out in the AHL and KHL.
8. Dylan Strome can’t find a role.
Strome’s skillset as a playmaking pivot with excellent vision and passing seems to have him narrowly tailored to the top 6 only given his deficiencies with skating and defending.
Can he improve enough in these areas to emerge as a viable 3rd line center?
Or should the Blackhawks roll with Lines 1, 2A, and 2B with a shutdown Line 4?
Having three offensive lines makes sense to take advantage of Strome’s strengths and would be even more favorable if he can show marked improvement in his weaknesses.
Alternatively, flanking him with complementary wingers would be helpful not only to compensate for his shortcomings but also to have the entire line be effective at both ends rather than a constant liability.
9. Alex Nylander remains a passenger.
Nylander is entering his final year of his ELC and needs to start excelling or else his time in Chicago will be cut short.
Being a factor on every shift and in all zones is what will matter most. Any offensive stats will be icing on the cake.
If he can stop being a ghost that appears only once in a while, he can cement a role in the top 9. He’s a favorite whipping boy but he has shown he can be a force when he applies himself.
Although understated, a huge part of the game is simply showing up. That couldn’t be farther from the truth for Nylander.
10. None of the young goalies can lock it down in net.
Seeing two-time Cup champion Corey Crawford let go is half of what makes the goalie situation scary.
The other half is the uncertainty of handing the keys to the car to an unproven foursome of netminders.
Ideally at least two of Malcolm Subban, Collin Delia, Kevin Lankinen, and Matt Tomkins need to emerge as a starter and backup who are reliable to backstop the Chicago defense.
Even just one surfacing as at least a competent backup would be amazing. But what if none of them do?
Does the team need to reach down the depth chart to two collegiate free agent signees in Cale Morris and Tom Aubrun? Both are on AHL deals.
If that happens, the nightmare in net from 2003-04 could reprise itself when Jocelyn Thibault went down with a long-term injury to see a revolving door including Steve Passmore, Craig Anderson, Michael Leighton, Adam Munro, and Matt Underhill.
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See you on the boards!
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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