While the playoffs are ongoing, many teams have already started their offseason planning. What storylines lie ahead around the league? Our Offseason Keys series continues with a look at the Chicago Blackhawks.
The bubble was going to burst one day but not many expected things would go that bad that quick as it did for Chicago in 2017-18. One year after winning the difficult Central Division, things spiralled in the wrong direction as struggles and injuries saw them go from the top to the bottom while finishing 16 points out of sixth place. Here are some keys to their offseason.
Find A Backup Upgrade
As part of the Artemi Panarin – Brandon Saad swap at the draft last June, Chicago picked up what they thought was their long-term replacement for Scott Darling in Anton Forsberg. Corey Crawford’s head injury actually resulted in Forsberg leading the way in games played and to put it nicely, he didn’t take advantage of the opportunity. In 35 appearances, he posted a 2.97 GAA and a .908 SV%, numbers that were below the league average.
Jeff Glass and Jean-Francois Berube also got chances and their performances weren’t any better. Glass is an unrestricted free agent and there’s a good chance he won’t be back and while Berube has another year left on his deal, he isn’t going to be in the discussion to be Crawford’s backup. Forsberg is also signed for next season but after the year he had, bringing in someone to try to upgrade would make some sense.
Reload Up Front
The Blackhawks have long been right up against the Upper Limit and 2017-18 was no exception. With most of their locked up on long-term, big money contracts, that isn’t likely to change, even with the expected increase in the salary cap. They currently have just over $67.5MM tied up in 16 players for next year, per CapFriendly, an amount that includes winger Marian Hossa ($5.275MM) who is likely headed back for LTIR next season.
The good news for Chicago is that they don’t have many pricey free agents to re-sign. Winger Anthony Duclair’s $1.2MM qualifying offer is the most expensive of the restricted free agents (and with the year he had, he may not get one) while winger Vinnie Hinostroza is in line for a raise on the $717K he earned but neither of them are going to break the bank.
The bad news is of those 16 skaters under contract, only seven (excluding Hossa) are forwards. They basically have to try and build half of a forward unit and will need to add a couple of top-six pieces if they really want to bolster that unit. They have a good collection of young, cheap forwards headed up by Alex DeBrincat and Nick Schmaltz but they aren’t ready to shoulder the load just yet so putting some of those youngsters in lesser roles to start would be ideal. GM Stan Bowman is going to be busy this summer and this forward unit may look a whole lot different a few months from now.
Decision On Anisimov
Around the trade deadline, most of the pieces that Chicago had to trade were expiring contracts but one player that was garnering some interest was center Artem Anisimov. He had a down year offensively and saw a bit of time in the bottom six, not an ideal place for someone signed for $4.55MM for three more years.
With Jonathan Toews entrenched long-term as their top center and Schmaltz looking like he could be their number two option in the not-too-distant future, there’s a possibility that Anisimov becomes expendable, especially if they have plans for adding some top-six help up front in free agency. Also, if they want to shake up the core up front, he’s the logical fit to move as Toews, Saad, and Patrick Kane aren’t going to go anywhere.
Centers are always in high demand and once the top few go when the market opens up in July, Anisimov would be an intriguing fallback plan for a team that strikes out. However, at the same time, Chicago’s depth down the middle is also relatively inexperienced beyond Toews so even though he’s coming off of a down year and is a bit pricey for his production, keeping Anisimov around as an insurance policy isn’t a bad idea either. Bowman will certainly have an interesting decision to make on the 29-year-old’s future in the weeks to come.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Seabrook is an anchor weighing the team down with his play and contract.
It could certainly be argued that Bowman is the anchor dragging down the ship.
agreed