Projecting the Blackhawks 2019-2020 Roster
After the busiest offseason of GM Stan Bowman’s tenure, the Chicago Blackhawks will have a new roster this season. The Chicago Blackhawks have missed out on the postseason in each of the last two seasons. Now heading into the 2019-2020 season, a lot of pressure is on Stan Bowman to build a team that can win.
Goalies
If there’s one thing we do know, it’s that the guys manning the net are set. Two time Stanley Cup champion, Corey Crawford returns for his 10th season with the Chicago Blackhawks. Despite numbers that fell off, Crawford still showed he is capable of being ‘the guy’ in net. However, to take off some of the load in Crawford, reigning Vezina finalist Robin Lehner signed a 1-year deal in Chicago. Lehner is coming off of the best season of his career and now sees an opportunity to split the net with Crawford this season. The tandem of these two should help immensely for a team that gave up the second-most goals in the NHL a year ago.
Projected Goalies
Corey Crawford
Robin Lehner
Defense
It’s no secret that the biggest weakness during the past two seasons has been the blue line. It’s also no coincidence that once the defense got weaker, the team missed the playoffs. This past offseason GM Stan Bowman got busy trying to strengthen the back end. By doing so, he acquired two big, stay at home, defensive defenseman in Olli Maata and Calvin de Haan. These two come in as great solutions to one of the worst net-front coverage teams in the league. The blue line will feature similar play style to these two, in Connor Murphy. Murphy returns for his 3rd year wearing the Indian head. The backend will feature these 3 along with with returning assistant captains, and long-time veterans, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. Both have definitely taken a step back, but Keith still has some gas left in the tank. Meanwhile, Seabrook has struggled the past two years dramatically. It does not appear as if it’ll get any better as his play downgraded as the season went on.
To round out the top 6 is the most productive defenseman from last years team in Erik Gustafsson. “Gus” is coming off the best season of his career producing 60 points in 79 games. With the exit of Henri Jokiharju, the 7th Defenseman is not so clear cut. Carl Dahlstrom and Slater Koekkoek both return, but with Adam Boqvist arriving will he be NHL ready? More than likely Boqvist will spend this season in the AHL. His offensive upside is tremendous, but he still needs to work on his defensive game. A year in the AHL should suit him well. Training camp should decide who will be the 7th Defenseman.
Projected Defensive Pairs
Gustafsson/de Haan
Keith/Seabrook
Maata/Murphy
Offense
As bad as the defense was in 2018-2019, the Chicago Blackhawks had no trouble scoring. Led by their all-star, and one of the leagues best wingers, Patrick Kane is coming off of the best season of his career. After 100+ points, Kane wasn’t the only one to have his best season yet. Captain, Jonathan Toews also was magnificent all year, recording 81 points in 82 games. In addition, Alex DeBrincat continued to put the puck in the back of the net, tallying 41 goals. Once he was joined by former junior teammate, Dylan Strome, the two immediately caught fire playing together. With Toews/Kane on the first line, DeBrincat/Strome on the second, pencil in one more winger on each line and you should have a lethal top two lines.
To fill the two spots, GM Stan Bowman hopes newly acquired Alex Nylander can come in and play on that second line. The once top 10 pick has a boatload of potential and the Blackhawks are hoping he can do what Strome did and turn around his career here in Chicago. As for who can play on the Toews/Kane line, Drake Caggiula showed promise with the two big boys and is a candidate to stay with them. Brandon Saad still has top 6 in his play with a wonderful two-way game and a nice bounce-back season. However, the Hawks just signed 23-year old, Dominik Kubalik, who has been tearing up the Czech and Swiss pro leagues respectively. In addition, he has performed highly in International play for the Czech Republic. Kubalik is a two-way guy who plays with a lot of speed and has the pace to play with Kane and Toews. The top 6 should have no trouble scoring regardless of who is with the big 4. In the past and during the Blackhawks run of 3 cups in 6 years, depth scoring was an important piece to the puzzle. With additions of Andrew Shaw, Zack Smith, and Ryan Carpenter, the bottom two lines look very solid.
Projected Forward Lines
Kane/Toews/Kubalik
DeBrincat/Strome/Nylander
Saad/Sikura/Caggiula
Shaw/Smith/Carpenter
Conclusion
The Chicago Blackhawks will look different come opening day, but Kane and Toews still lead the way offensively. While Keith Gustafsson should be the two best defensemen. In goal, Lehner and Crawford are likely to split time until one proves they are the ‘guy’. Training camp will decide what the final roster will be like, with guys like David Kampf, John Quenneville, and most importantly, 3rd overall pick, Kirby Dach, getting a chance. The likely route for Dach is to start the season playing with the Blackhawks, playing no more than nine games to avoid burning a year of his Entry-Level Deal, then sending him back to Saskatoon of the WHL. Meanwhile, Adam Boqvist could do the same, however, because he was on loan to London, he can spend this year in Rockford.
Patrick Kane is coming off of the highest-scoring season of his career. Now is ready to lead the Chicago Blackhawks back into the playoffs.
Featured Image: NBC Sports Chicago.
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