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Hopefully This Team Doesn’t Look Too Similar Next Year |
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The Blackhawks continue their 3-game road trip against Arizona tonight. This is the first of back-to-backs as they are off to Vegas tomorrow to finish this mini-trip up.
With 27 games remaining, the Blackhawks will continue to search for optimism in what has been a disastrous season according to most. That optimistic outlook will be more geared towards next season and how they can get this team back on track vs. a hopefulness that the playoffs are still in reach. Luckily, it appears that Stan and his PR machine has debunked the latter, which is a good thing for everyone.
It's good to see Stan hit the media circuit admitting this team is not where they wanted to be and that they're dedicated to tweaking into a more competitive team next year (thus conceding to the fact that the playoffs ain't happening). I use the word tweaking because he's also commented that this team will look very similar to this years.
Last week, I posted a (very late night) thought about the Hawks targeting someone like Oscar Klefbom from the Edmonton Oilers as the young Swedish defenceman is rumoured to be potentially on the block for the right price.
My proposal (which was just opinion, nothing I had heard) was met with mixed reviews and admittedly, might have been a too favoured towards the Oilers as it included the likes of Debrincat and Forsling going the other way.
My rationale for suggesting a trade for someone of Klefbom's ilk is that this team better not look too similar on the backend.
Even if Keith and Seabrook have bounce-back seasons and some of those younger defencemen take a small step forward, I will not be content if the Hawks roll out the following in October of 2018: Keith, Seabrook, Oesterle, Murphy, Forsling, Gustafsson, Dalhstrom.
… and I don't think you should be either if you're hoping for a better season from the Blackhawks.
Like I said, it's conceivable that Keith and Seabrook play better, but they are no longer the players they used to be and if anything, they could fade away even more.
I am confident that Oesterle, Murphy, and Forsling can move forward as they continue to grow as professionals, but I really question if it's enough for any to become PP QBs of a top power play or a part of an elite shutdown pair.
Defence wins championships and we saw that first hand with the Blackhawks to a certain degree. Fans were spoiled to see night-after-night, Keith-Seabrook and Hammer-Oduya/Campbell head out there and really dominate from the Hawks goal line out during their run.
As we gaze into the crystal ball and listen to Stan's "not much is going to change" speech, come October, the Hawks will be left with 1 top pairing defenceman in Keith and a handful or 4-5-6 guys on the depth chart.
Sure, one can point to the Pittsburgh Penguins winning the Stanley Cup last year (without Kris Letang) and icing a defence rotation of:
Dumoulin
Hainsey
Maatta
Schultz
Cole
Daley
And to be honest, I've heard some interesting theories that teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs are comfortable with building their team with a "defend by committee" with a #2 dman here, a few #3-4's there, rounding out by a couple #5's.
Now is this because Toronto has had such a difficult time acquiring or drafting an elite #1 defenceman, maybe?
I could consider getting behind a theory such as this, however, this only works when you have extremely strong depth up front to outscore a team (like Toronto, like Pittsburgh), as well as a team philosophy/strategy that focuses on attacking AND defending in waves. The Penguins have mastered this under Mike Sullivan and Toronto is working their way towards this with Babcock.
The Blackhawks have seen promising play out of some of their youngsters and do have a couple prospects on the way that could contribute in the next couple of years, however, I still think they need to acquire a top 4 defence this off-season to help them keep this train moving while Toews/Kane/Keith can still skate.
You're not going to love what's on the open market and what you'll have to pay for a guy like Mike Green, John Carlson or Jack Johnson, so ultimately, you have to find a gem overseas, steal someone from NCAA or acquire via trade for a top defender; and to get said "top defender" you have to give to get. Even though the Blackhawks are not as elite as they used to be, opposing GMs still won't be looking to help them out. This is why I included thee Alex Debrincat in a trade proposal (don't get me wrong, love the 'Cat) because their will be difficult decisions ahead for this team.
Look no further than the Connor Muprhy/Nik Hjalmarsson swap, as Stan Bowman was hoping for with deal; gaining a young, top 4 D at a reasonable cap hit. Has it worked out? Not exactly, but Murphy could play an important role next year and we'll see what Hammer re-signs for in a couple years.
I have heard rumblings throughout the year that they were looking to add another defenceman and I wouldn’t be surprised to see another move like this in the off-season in the same fashion (hence why I have brought up guys who are already locked up for a few years like Klefbom – 24 years old/4.1M per & Maatta – 23 years old/4.1M per).
We will be chatting a lot about how to improve this Hawks team over the next 6 months. Maybe adding a defenceman isn’t what YOU think the Hawks should do? If not, what are you thinking? Would love to hear it on the message boards.
See ya out there.
JL
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Who we got tonight: Arizona Coyotes
13-32-10 = 26 points
8th in Pacific Division
GF: 128 (last in NHL) / GA: 188 (2nd last in NHL)
PP% = 16.6% (26th in NHL & still better than the Blackhawks)
PK% = 78.7% (21st in NHL)
Sniper: Clayton Keller – 15 goals
Producer: Keller – 38 points
Tough Guys: – Max Domi – 39 PIMs & Luke Schenn - 160 hits
Expected Starter: Antti Raanta
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