There seems to be much hullabaloo about 4th line center David Kampf being protected by the Blackhawks in tomorrow's expansion draft. The argument isn't solely on whether he should have been protected or exposed but more so on who was snubbed in favor of him: Adam Gaudette.
In the last blog, my take is Kampf was deservedly protected because he's a known quantity while Gaudette isn't. Kampf may be an offensive black hole but he consistently wins at the dot, plays shutdown hockey, and is able to sustain pressure 200 feet away from his own goalie.
There's no one in the organization who can do now what Kampf can do today. MacKenzie Entwistle perhaps could in due course but he's played only a handful of NHL games. Another prospect who could be in Kampf's mold is Antti Saarela but he's in Finland for 2021-22 and years away.
An argument against Kampf that has come up is that he's not a missing piece to making the Hawks a Stanley Cup contender again. That's debatable as his predecessor Marcus Kruger helped win the 2013 and 2015 Cups and has an almost identical modus operandi as Kampf.
Gaudette, on the other hand, isn't as established in the NHL yet in terms of what the Hawks can expect him to be. Is he a top 6 forward lying in wait? Is he a middle 6 forward that the Hawks have plenty of? Or is he destined to be a staple in the bottom 6?
Regardless of his water level, Gaudette could still have potential to be an impact player like Kampf is as a 4C. Again, however, the Hawks know what they have in Kampf and would have a big hole if he's not in the lineup. There's competition, though, for what Gaudette may provide.
Ryan Carpenter, Brett Connolly, Brandon Hagel, Mike Hardman, Vincent Hinostroza, Philipp Kurashev, Pius Suter, and the aforementioned Entwistle are vying with Gaudette for spots on the wings for 2021-22. There's also rookie Lukas Reichel. And don't forget Alex Nylander.
General manager Stan Bowman needs to start trimming the forward ranks sooner or later. Sure, training camp could be the proving ground for decision making to happen but offseason trading of some of the excess forwards for assets is a necessary endeavor to aid the rebuild.
Kampf and Gaudette are both RFAs so their fate with the team is still in the balance even if there was no expansion draft. Despite this fact, Kampf may have priority over Gaudette due to what he contributes to the team and how difficult it would be to replace his skill set.
Would Kampf be as highly regarded if the rest of the centers not named Jonathan Toews were strong in faceoffs and dependable defensively? Kampf may be more expendable if the center depth included Toews plus other Selke-worthy pivots like Mikael Backlund or Phillip Danault.
The fact of the matter is the Hawks don't have a Backlund or Danault to support Toews with the heavy lifting. Kirby Dach is a maybe as he's still developing but far from being a two-way force. Dylan Strome is a definite no. That leaves Kampf who has proven he's fit for the job.
Gaudette could very well explode on the scene this season and the Hawks could be the benefactor if he's not selected by Seattle and he's re-signed to a new contract. Another thing to keep in mind is just because he's exposed to the Kraken doesn't mean the Hawks don't value him.
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Schedules
In addition to the Blackhawks preseason schedule being released yesterday, NHL news sources stated that regular season schedules will be released on Thursday. With the Hawks last preseason game being on October 9, the season opener is likely the week of October 11-15.
It's rumored that the NHL will have MLB-like series like last season but against the full complement of teams and not just those within the division. There will be a full slate of 82 games and each team will play every other team at least twice.
The regular season schedule will also factor in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing even though details of whether NHL players will be participating are still unclear. In related news, Canada will reopen its borders to the U.S. beginning on August 9.
A change that impacts the Hawks is the Coyotes moving from the Pacific Division to the Central Division in order to accommodate the Kraken. Otherwise, all divisions will be restored to the previous iterations of the Central, Pacific, Metropolitan, and Atlantic.
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