Sep 19: The Blackhawks issued an update on Murphy’s status, indicating that he will be off the ice for the next six weeks and is looking at somewhere between eight and twelve weeks before actually getting back into the lineup. That confirms that the Blackhawks will be without him for a good chunk of the season, and will need to find someone else to step up on the blue line.
Sep 14: The Chicago Blackhawks have question marks all through their group of defenseman, and got another one today when it was announced that Connor Murphy will miss the next eight weeks with a back injury. Murphy was locked into a role with the team heading into camp, but will have to sit out well into November as it turns out. The team also announced that Brent Seabrook will miss a week with an abdominal injury, and Gustav Forsling continues to work his way back from wrist surgery.
After a down year from Seabrook and Duncan Keith, Chicago is coming into the season without a real obvious plan on the blue line. Murphy’s injury will only complicate things and could lead the Blackhawks to bringing along a young player like Henri Jokiharju for the first part of the season. Jokiharju, Chicago’s first round pick from 2017, had an outstanding 2017-18 season with the Portland Winterhawks and could be ready for NHL competition even at the tender age of 19. The Finnish defenseman has shown an incredible ability to move the puck under pressure and could quickly become the primary option for the Blackhawks on the powerplay.
Still, that’s a lot to ask of a teenager at this point, especially given the pressure that is on the Blackhawks to perform this season. After a down year the team is still stuck in contract purgatory given their huge commitments to Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Seabrook and Keith, and needs to find a way back into the playoffs immediately. There’s no rebuild happening in Chicago, though the organization does have several interesting young names who will play a big role up front this season. Jokiharju, or whoever is given an opportunity in Murphy’s absence, will be asked to shoulder a lot of responsibility right away.
No buzz on an addition but not much out there to step in and play a major role right away. The youth is coming on defense and people with see some of it this year for sure. They should be ok as long as Crawford can over come his symptoms. The rest of the division is stacked and Chicago has to prove themselves. I think they will surprise a lot of people. Toews will have a bounce back year offensively. He is too good to be ok with the past few years.
Hawks should pick up dotchin
Hawks will suck till they fire that Idiot Bowman who is responsible for this whole mess
I don’t know about “suck” – last year Crawford got hurt and JT had an off year. So did Keith and Seabrook
I expect a competitive team – but not the dominant one we used to see.
Agree with Bowman though – some really bad contracts on that squad that should have been moved (a-la Pheneuf) before they because too difficult to trade (Seabrook *cough cough*)
Toews has been in decline for 3 seasons now. To expect him to bounce back at this point is foolish. And anyone expecting Crawford to play up to his normal levels is also a fool. This team is headed straight to the bottom of the western conference.
And I say this as a hawks fan. Trust me, I’d love to say that they are playoff team, but I just don’t see it. Maybe they’ll surprise with no expectations
You are probably right
The Blackhawks distracted Chicago fans from how bad the Bears were for a long time and hopefully we can see a reverse of that.