Expansion Primer: Chicago Blackhawks

Over the next few weeks we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, and which will likely warrant protection or may be on the block. Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4pm CDT on June 17th. The full rules on eligibility can be found here, and CapFriendly has provided a handy expansion tool to make your own lists.

While the regular season was a strong one for Chicago, it failed to translate into postseason success as the Blackhawks were swept at the hands of the Predators.  GM Stan Bowman has promised change, some of which will come through expansion.  Here’s a closer look at their situation when it comes to the upcoming draft.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards:

Artem Anisimov (NMC), Ryan Hartman, Marian Hossa (NMC), Tomas Jurco, Patrick Kane (NMC), Marcus Kruger, Michael Latta, Richard Panik, Dennis Rasmussen, Jonathan Toews (NMC), Jordin Tootoo

Defense:

Niklas Hjalmarsson (NMC), Duncan Keith (NMC), Ville Pokka, Michal Rozsival, Brent Seabrook (NMC), Viktor Svedberg, Trevor van Riemsdyk

Goaltenders:

Corey Crawford (NMC), Jeff Glass

Notable Exemptions

D Gustav Forsling, F John Hayden, F Vinnie Hinostroza, D Michal Kempny, F Tanner Kero, F Artemi Panarin, D Jan Rutta, F Nick Schmaltz

Key Decisions

Based on earlier reports, their strategy seems to revolve around van Riemsdyk.  The belief is that if the Golden Knights are willing to take Kruger and his $3.083MM cap hit off their hands in a trade, they’ll leave the blueliner available to be selected in the draft.  With three rearguards carrying no-move clauses though, there isn’t much of a real protection threat to Vegas here.  Protecting van Riemsdyk would require a switch to protecting just eight skaters which would open up an intriguing option up front for the Golden Knights.

With the recent re-signing of Kempny as well as the addition of Rutta, the Blackhawks are certainly hedging against losing van Riemsdyk.  With Brian Campbell and Johnny Oduya expected to depart, the 25 year old becomes a candidate for a bigger role next season which would make his departure tough to swallow.  That could be lessened by getting Kruger’s contract off the books but is leaving van Riemsdyk unprotected enough of a sweetener by itself?  On the surface it may seem like it but that may not be the case.

If the discussed deal falls through and Chicago opts to go with protecting eight skaters to keep van Riemsdyk away from Vegas, the Golden Knights would likely happily snap up Hartman and not have to take on Kruger’s contract.  That seems like an even worse outcome for the Blackhawks who would lose a promising young forward and still be in trouble when it comes to the salary cap.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Blackhawks had to add something else to the rumored trade to get it done.

That presents Bowman with another option he’ll have to consider – trade van Riemsdyk before expansion.  While that would mean that their efforts to move Kruger will have fallen through, they would at least stand to get some value back for their blueliner while going with a 7/3/1 scheme would result in them not losing anyone of much consequence to Vegas.  There are a few ways this could go and van Riemsdyk is at the core of all of them.

Up front, there aren’t a lot of decisions to really be made thanks to the four no-move clauses.  Hartman and the recently-extended Panik would stand to snap up the fifth and sixth slots with a handful of players vying for the last one.

Considering their cap situation, it’s safe to suggest Kruger will be left unprotected no matter what.  Tootoo was in and out of the lineup this past season and there’s a good case to be made that his extension was in part to ensure that they had enough forwards to meet the 40/70 exposure requirements.

That leaves Jurco and Rasmussen for the last spot.  Jurco is coming off two straight disappointing seasons and failed to produce with Chicago after being acquired.  However, at 24 years of age, there’s still hope that he could turn it around.  Rasmussen played more of a regular role after getting into 68 games but did so almost exclusively in a fourth line depth role.  While he played more than Jurco, it’s conceivable that Bowman and Chicago would use their last spot on potential upside before a depth checker.

If the Blackhawks wanted to protect both, they could conceivably ask Hossa to waive his no-move clause.  His contract and age would make him a safe bet to pass through.  However, teams appear to be very hesitant to approach their veterans about doing so; as a result, this is a very unlikely scenario.

Chicago doesn’t have many unrestricted free agents and among them, none would likely be appealing to Vegas GM George McPhee.  Campbell and Oduya are the best ones available and neither of them should interest an expansion team, especially since plenty of younger blueliners will be made available to them from other teams.

Projected Protection List

F Artem Anisimov (NMC)
F Ryan Hartman
F Marian Hossa (NMC)
F Tomas Jurco
F Patrick Kane (NMC)
F Richard Panik
F Jonathan Toews (NMC)

D Niklas Hjalmarsson (NMC)
D Duncan Keith (NMC)
D Brent Seabrook (NMC)

G Corey Crawford (NMC)

Assuming that Bowman and McPhee agree on the rumored deal that would send Kruger to the Golden Knights with van Riemsdyk left unprotected, this could be one of the less-intriguing teams to watch when it comes to expansion.  If it doesn’t happen though, then they’ll be worth keeping an eye on.  Do they protect van Riemsdyk anyways and switch to the eight skater scheme?  Do they leave him unprotected outright?  Do they trade him beforehand?  Considering how much Chicago’s situation seems to revolve around him, their expansion situation could more or less be termed ‘van Riemsdyk watch’.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.