The dust has settled on the start of free agency, and after months of waiting to see what Kyle Davidson meant by the time for this team to take the next step, we got our answer on how the next few years of this rebuild are going to go. For a quick recap, the Hawks Signed eight players, including forwards Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen, Pat Maroon, Craig Smith, Joey Anderson, defenseman Alec Martinez, TJ Brodie, and goalie Laurent Brossoit. Take those moves and add the addition of IIya Mikheyev. KD was serious about this team not finishing at the bottom of the league for the third consecutive year. While I don’t think by any means that this is a team that is going to flirt with a wild card spot, I don’t think it is far-fetched to have the expectations of this team finishing the 2024–25 season in the low to mid-30 area. I, for one, absolutely love these moves and the approach he took to building this team for the next season and how it is going to affect the team down the line. While I am seeing positive reviews from non-Blackhawk accounts, there seems to be a much harder sell to Hawks fans, so let's break down three of the concerns I've seen the most and try to give my positive outlook on them.
Oh, they sign these guys, but not Kane?
I'm going to get this one out of the way and make it nice and quick. Patrick Kane is looking to play important games and reach the playoffs again. The Hawks would not give him that chance this season. Even if KD changed his stance on bringing him back, it wouldn’t matter, as I really don’t think Kane would have come back just yet. I love the 1-year deal he signed with Detroit, and I personally feel like this is a do-or-die season for Yzerman. Something will have to give in Michigan. With that being said, I do hope he comes back at some point, and maybe things will change at the end of this season and we can see a reunion the following year, but until then, just let it go. Kane will not be back this season.
How can this be a rebuild when the cap space is gone?
The Hawks took the checkbook out and spent all but $4.765 million of their cap space. While this could throw Vietnam flashbacks to the Bowman era, it's not even close to the same situations. Of the 8 contracts signed yesterday, only 2 will last past the time Bedard, Korchinski, and Nazar need to be re-signed. When we reach the off-season, the team will have a bunch of contracts coming off the books, including Hall, Athanasiou, Kurashev, Donato, Maroon, Smith, and Alec Martinez. That right, there are 21 million off the books. What also comes off are the dead caps of Jake McCabe and Josh Bailey, which are another 3 million. Take all that and the projection of the cap going into the 90 million plus range; money should be the last thing that is worried about.
All these guys brought in, are we really not going to play with the kids?
Long-term, the moves made yesterday are the best thing KD and the Hawks could have done. One of the biggest issues with the last management group was that they rushed their prospects. How many first-round picks were forced to play NHL minutes before they were ready? What I love about KD is that he is not afraid to let prospects overripen. By bringing in these vets, you are giving players like Nazar, Slaggert, Korchinski, Del Mastro, and Kaiser the chance to go to Rockford and play big minutes for a very good team. These guys will have the chance to play in situations that they probably would get to as often if they were up with the big club. Korchinski was able to play a full season last year, but there were times that it was clear he needed more time to work on his game before being able to take major minutes. Now he can be on the top pair with the Ice Hogs, find his game, and when it comes time to join the team again, he will jump right in and never look back. This also buys Levshunov sometime as well. He can go back to Michigan State and battle for the National Championship, or he can make the jump and go right to Rockford. These are the moves that were going to have to be made to give the future core the time they need to develop into the players KD and the team expect them to be. There are zero reasons to believe that this is going to hamper the future.
This team is ready to take the next step, and while last year was about building the new culture of this team, with this roster, it gives them a very good opportunity to develop their on-ice identity. Bedard is going to have the chance to play with some great players, and that is going to help push him to step his game up and really show this league what he can do. What happens on the ice the next two seasons is going to be very important to the future of this team because once players around the league start to see the clear picture of what KD is building, it's going to make Chicago the hot bed once again, and the competitive window for this team will bust open. If you are still freaking out about the direction this team is going, take a step back, take slow, deep breaths, and just remember that in 98 days we get to watch Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks again. If you made it through last season, I can safely say you’ll live through this.
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