The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t playoff-bound plus some that were eliminated early in the playoffs. It’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Chicago.
There were high hopes for the Blackhawks to start this season after a summer that saw them add a new top defender in Seth Jones, a new starting goalie in Marc-Andre Fleury, as well as some extra depth up front. The hope was that these improvements would help get them back into the playoff picture after missing the postseason the year before. It didn’t happen. Instead, mired with off-ice controversy and on-ice struggles, things snowballed in the opposite direction and instead of building for the playoffs, GM Kyle Davidson has committed to going for a rebuild instead. As a result, he has a busy summer ahead of him.
Coaching Decision
After Jeremy Colliton was let go after just a dozen games, Derek King was elevated from coaching with AHL Rockford to fill in on an interim basis for the rest of the season. His record wasn’t stellar by any stretch (27-33-10) but the team was much more competitive under King despite having nothing to play for but pride for most of the season.
Davidson decided that he wants to undergo a full coaching search and one of the questions he’ll have to answer is the type of coach he’s looking for. Is he looking for a long-term fixture to grow with the team or is it someone to take them through this transitional period? If it’s the latter, someone like King – who will interview for the full-time job – becomes a legitimate candidate with how Chicago performed down the stretch. A veteran coach doesn’t seem like a good fit for a rebuilding squad but Davidson has committed to a thorough search so there will undoubtedly be some veteran coaches considered over the coming weeks on top of some first-time options.
On top of hiring a head coach, Davidson and whoever he picks as his bench boss will need to fill a couple of vacancies on the bench after the team dismissed associate coach Marc Crawford and assistant coach Rob Cookson this summer.
Build A Goalie Tandem
In terms of Chicago’s on-ice personnel, there is a lot of work to be done this summer between the pipes. Fleury was moved to Minnesota at the trade deadline while holdovers Kevin Lankinen and Collin Delia are both pending unrestricted free agents. As it stands, the only goalie with professional experience that’s signed for next season is Arvid Soderblom. Suffice it to say, they have some work to do.
After an impressive first NHL season, Lankinen struggled considerably this year with a save percentage of just .891. A year ago, it looked like he could be a sought-after netminder in free agency but now, his market will have cooled considerably. Still, a return to Chicago could be an option in a backup role. Delia is someone that has been around the organization for a while (five years) but never has really emerged beyond being a good AHL netminder that can play a handful of NHL contests when needed. With the Blackhawks wanting to give Soderblom and Jaxson Stauber lots of action with AHL Rockford, Delia seems likely to move on.
Davidson could try to go after a younger free agent goalie in Jack Campbell or Ville Husso with the hope that they’ll still be on the team when they’re ready to try to contend again but that seems like an unlikely scenario. Instead, veterans on short-term contracts that give them some flexibility seems like the smarter way to go for them. They’ll need a couple of them over the next few months.
Rebuild The Rest
There are few core players on Chicago that should be viewed as untouchable. With them appearing to be eyeing a multi-year process, anyone that isn’t signed or under team control through that time could very well be expendable.
Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson has a very busy offseason ahead of him.The biggest decisions that will need to be made in the short term involve winger Patrick Kane and center Jonathan Toews. Both players have spent their entire careers (14 years for Toews, 15 for Kane) in Chicago and have been on identical contracts since 2010. They’re set to enter the final year of their deals that carry a $10.5MM cap hit. Are they a part of the future plans? Davidson allowed for the possibility that they could stick around but will the veterans be willing to go through several more years of losing? If not, then they will have to give serious consideration to trading their long-time pillars. Are those moves easier to make now when moving salary is a bit easier or closer to the trade deadline when most of the cap hit has been covered already? That, along with the possibility of extensions, will likely have to be jointly explored this summer.
Other veterans will likely be on the move as well to add future assets and try to free up some cap flexibility. Blueliner Jake McCabe and Connor Murphy along with center Tyler Johnson are all potential options either this summer or at some point during the season.
RFA Decisions
Two younger veterans that could fit in the above category as well are Dominik Kubalik and Dylan Strome. Both are restricted free agents this summer with qualifying offers ($4MM for Kubalik, $3.6MM for Strome) that are a bit high relative to their performance in recent years. Kubalik had 30 goals in his rookie season but just 32 in the last two combined. Strome, meanwhile, has been hit or miss since joining Chicago in 2018, at times looking like a capable top-six player and others where he struggled to the point of being a healthy scratch.
Not that long ago, both players were viewed as potential long-term fits for the Blackhawks but that isn’t the case now due to their inconsistency and somewhat recent struggles. Kubalik was available at the trade deadline with minimal interest while Strome has been available off and on going back more than a year although his strong finish (36 points in his last 40 games) could help his chances of sticking around with a one-year, ‘prove it’ type of contract.
Can they keep both? With their cap situation, can they afford to keep both? They can opt for club-elected arbitration which carries a minimum salary of 85% of the qualifying offer but there’s no guarantee the arbitrator will agree with that valuation and there are no walkaway rights with club-elected arbitration. Chicago can try to negotiate a lower-priced deal but there’s no requirement for Kubalik and Strome to agree to something like that. Accordingly, don’t be surprised if both players are in the rumor mill in the coming weeks to see if there’s a trade return that could be palatable if Davidson doesn’t want to pay the cost to keep them.
DeBrincat Extension Talks
One player that Davidson will undoubtedly be willing to pay the cost to keep is winger Alex DeBrincat. He signed a three-year bridge deal back in 2019 and has outperformed it, scoring 73 goals in just 134 games since then, including 41 this season. With his contract coming before the CBA extension, he’s subject to the old qualifying offer rules which means his 2022-23 salary of $9MM represents his qualifying offer next summer.
The 24-year-old will be eligible for an extension once the new league year starts in mid-July. DeBrincat looks like a centerpiece of Chicago’s rebuilding process so locking him up as soon as possible is something that needs to be explored. It wouldn’t be surprising to see discussions on a new agreement begin sooner than later as a result. A deal doesn’t have to be done now but if something isn’t agreed on, he’ll enter next summer a year away from UFA eligibility which always carries some risk. Expect Davidson to try to avoid that if he can.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Salary figures courtesy of CapFriendly.
Coach Q’s triumphant return! LOLL
They really need to trade Kane and Toews! It would speed up the rebuild substantially
!
And the Good Hockey Fairy of the North will click her Ruby Skates together and chant “There’s no place like buyout?”
C’mon. Kane may still be an elite player, but Toews was never worth ten million on the best day of his life. A fine player, yes, but $10.5 is superstar money, and other than being Claude Lemieux 2.0 in the postseason (which, after all, he’s played in once in the last five years), he’s come nowhere close to earning it. Last season Toews was a third-line center pretending to be a second-liner, and at his age he’s not improving.
The only way even an Arizona will take on that salary is if you bribe the hell out of them to do it. Is Chicago really in a position to give away (say) a couple second-rounders for the privilege?
I agree wholeheartedly. At this point, there’s no reason to bribe someone to take Toews. It’s not like they’re trying to save cap room to compete next year. Just keep him and let him get a retirement tour as motivation for people to show up to the arena. Especially since I doubt Kane is still around next season.
Todd Nelson is available. He won a Calder Cup coaching the Griffens.
Time to move Kane. Would not be happy about it but he’ll bring a lot back. Toews is a shell of his former self and everyone knows it. A blockbuster trade needs to happen to move this organization forward. As comprised, they are not going to the playoffs next year. But their biggest need is an absolute stud goaltender.
Not really sure why Toews being traded is talked about as a realistic option. There is not a single team in the league that will give up anything for that contract (I know, sometimes I underestimate the stupidity of NHL GM’s,) even if it’s just one year. It’s a buyout or he’s still playing next year for the team.
Kane is a different matter altogether. He needs to be traded. The package would be astronomical and there are plenty of teams that would be lining up to bid for him.
My prediction: Kane is traded to one of LA, Anaheim, Buffalo, or Detroit and Toews finishes his career in Chicago after begging the team not to buy him out and end his career unceremoniously.
Buffalo for cozens and Thompson prospect pick
What could possibly be Buffalo’s incentive to make that deal? Hell, they’d be madmen to trade Thompson even up for Kane. They control Thompson for three more seasons, and Thompson’s the guy around which they build the future.
Buffalo’s incentive would be A( Kane is a hometown boy) and B( He would put fans in the seats) Which judging by Buffalo attendance, they sorely need. Kane might be willing to waive his no trade to go home, more than end up on the West Coast. He’s won Cups, Awards, and everything a player aspires to so I could see it. Money talks and getting fans to pony up to watch a bunch of young guys is a crap shoot. Not to mention having a guy who’s played in every Playoff scenario teaching your young studs how it’s done, A lot to gain for them.
Yeah, I think there’s plenty of incentive for the Sabres to go after Kane. Maybe not for Thompson, but you also have to give to get and maybe they’re convinced Thompson’s season as good as it’s gonna get.
The Kings are in a similar boat with Kempe. Are their seasons a sign of things to come, young first-rounders finally hitting that next level? Or is it streaky scorers putting together what will be their best seasons? That will decide whether they’re resigned (Kempe) or traded at potential peak value (Thompson.)
And just for the record, I think the Kings resign Kempe and are happy, and the Sabres hold on to Thompson and are happy.
And here’s my answer to “plenty of incentive to go after Kane” — he’s signed for exactly one more season. So you’re going to blow up the Sabres future so that maybe, *maybe*, Kane might *possibly* get them to the 2nd wild card slot, promptly be swept, and then he goes right on the open market as a UFA to play for whomever he wants at whatever price he feels like earning.
As far as putting fans in the seats go, look. I’m not the hugest Jack Eichel fan out there, but he is certainly a star, and if he wasn’t bringing fans into the arena, I’m unsure how Kane would. Hey, look, I just looked it up. The last couple years (where, y’know, there’s been a bit of medical disruption) aside, Buffalo’s been playing to 95% capacity or thereabouts since 2007, which is pretty damn good for a team that’s been as consistently lousy as the Sabres.
If they really want Patrick Kane (who’s been consistent in his publicly stated desire to finish his career in Chicago), they can go after him for free a year from now. Won’t cost them as much as a sixth rounder.