With part two of the Trick-or-Treat special, today we focus on a few things that excite me (treats) about the upcoming season for the Blackhawks. Yesterday’s blog highlighted ten things that scare me (tricks) about 2020-21.
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1. Seeing Kirby Dach continue to emerge as a dominant future franchise player.
While I wouldn’t call the 2020 postseason as his coming out party, Dach did take his game to the next level after a fair regular season to kick off his NHL career and nearly a five-month hiatus due to the pandemic shutdown of the league.
Dach has a long way to go still to reach the lofty status of a game breaker selected 3rd overall in 2019 and match the comparables that analysts have ascribed to him such as Ryan Getzlaf, Joe Thornton, and Mark Scheifele.
Yet, his postseason performance showed glimpses of what’s to come as he leverages his size, strength, reach, hockey IQ, and offensive instincts. Even during his rookie season he progressed from bottom 6 to top 6 within the year leapfrogging Dylan Strome on the pivot depth chart in the process.
It’s no doubt Dach is the team’s 2C for the foreseeable future with an increasing possibility of even pushing for the role of 1C in due course if he traverses his growth curve expeditiously.
2. Seeing which goalies emerge as potential long-term solutions in net.
Corey Crawford was 26 years old when he took over Marty Turco as the Blackhawks starter during the 2010-11 season. Malcolm Subban, Collin Delia, and Matt Tomkins are each 26 while Kevin Lankinen is 25.
The main difference, though, is Crawford was the starter for five full seasons in the AHL before becoming the starter in Chicago. Subban, Delia, Lankinen, and Tomkins each played just parts of two to four seasons.
Regardless, now is a good time as any other to see what the system has. It seems realistic for at least one of them to emerge as a solid backup. It would be ideal, though, if one emerges as a reliable starter.
Subban has the fight in him to take on big minutes. Delia has the swagger to stand on his head to steal wins. Lankinen has the calm composure to not get rattled by the pressure. Tomkins has the technical skill to provide fundamental backstopping.
There really is no front runner at this point, just our personal favorites of who we’re rooting for but that’s what makes this goalie competition simultaneously exciting and nerve wracking.
3. Seeing if Pius Suter is the real deal.
As far as European prospects who were preceded with hype, the forwards have had a better track record of instant success in Chicago than the defensemen.
Michal Kempny and Jan Rutta weren’t impact players until after being shipped out to Washington and Tampa Bay, respectively, but Artemi Panarin, Dominik Kahun, and Dominik Kubalik sure were.
Pius Suter was one of the most -- if not
the most -- coveted European free agent that NHL teams vied for after the 2019-20 regular season ended. Will he match the fanfare and continue the trend of European forwards?
Many are projecting Suter to be somewhere between Kahun and Kubalik in terms of offensive output. Aside from the point production, it’s the high compete level and willingness to play in the tough areas that sets Pius apart from the Dominiks.
If that is his M.O. then I’m excited to see Suter in action and interested in seeing where he ultimately slots in the lineup. He is definitely middle 6 but could state his case for top 6 if banging on all cylinders.
4. Seeing if the new direction and identity of the team starts to take form.
Stan Bowman and Jeremy Colliton want to construct a team predicated on competing end to end, contesting every puck, and committing to defense. Count me on board for that brand of hockey.
However, it’s one thing to proclaim that as the building blocks of the team’s new DNA but it’s another thing to put those words into action and generate results.
Will the recent acquisitions of Mattias Janmark, Lucas Wallmark, and Nikita Zadorov -- all of whom fit this description to varying degrees -- pave the way to redefine hockey in Chicago?
Can Dach and Suter be key cogs in the re-engineered machine?
How will the core and other veterans contribute?
And how does the existing young nucleus in Kubalik, Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome, Alex Nylander, Matthew Highmore, and Adam Boqvist play its part?
If the team can rally and gel around this new direction and identity, then there could be a lot to be excited about as a prelude of more to come with the system developing prospects in the same mold.
5. Seeing a gradual influx of youth into the lineup.
A primary component of this new direction and identity is the youth movement. While there is an excess of players on the roster right now not making any spots available for prospects, there is the expectation for some to grace the lineup at some point in 2020-21.
Amongst these prospects are Brandon Hagel, Philipp Kurashev, and MacKenzie Entwistle up front and Lucas Carlsson, Ian Mitchell, Nicolas Beaudin, and Wyatt Kalynuk in the rear. I wouldn’t count Chad Krys out either.
Hagel and Entwistle are forecasted to be bottom 6 forwards who could eventually form an effective shutdown line along with Highmore.
Kurashev, on the other hand, has greater potential to serve as a middle 6 center who is dependable in all zones, silky smooth offensively, and excellent at supporting the puck and his mates.
Carlsson, Mitchell, Beaudin, Kalynuk, and Krys join Boqvist as the front runners in the much anticipated reboot to help the blueline become more mobile en route to returning the Hawks to being a premier team at transitioning the puck and flipping the ice.
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See you on the boards!
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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