Blackhawks Rumors

Central Division Offers Veteran Scoring, Risky Prospects

June 18, 2017 at 12:45 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

The Central Division has quite a bit to offer the Las Vegas Golden Knights from prospects to veteran scorers as they sift through the recently exposed rosters of every NHL team. Several team offer quite a bit of challenging option that the inaugural team can either take, trade off or just work out a deal for some picks. Once again, while some of these players may be available, trades may have already been worked out to persuade Las Vegas to look the other way on a few of them. So don’t be surprised if they don’t take them.

The Minnesota Wild have offered the most intriguing options in the draft after having exposed several interesting players. Due to their defensive depth, the team left several defensemen exposed, including 22-year-old Mathew Dumba, a promising defenseman who has already been in the NHL for three years since being the seventh-overall pick in 2012. Dumba’s 11 goals make him a key defenseman to build their franchise around, assuming the team doesn’t have a side deal set up or the Golden Knights are considering flipping him to another desperate team needing defense. Veteran forward Eric Staal was also left unprotected, leaving Las Vegas with even a tougher decisions to make. The 32-year-old veteran had one of his better season with the Wild this past year, putting up 28 goals. His price tag is even reasonable at $3.5MM for the next two years. Defenseman Marco Scandella is an afterthought here, but on any other team, would be an intriguing option for the Golden Knights.

The Nashville Predators have one obvious candidate in veteran scorer James Neal, who helped lead the team to the Stanley Cup Finals. Neal finished the season with 23 regular season goals and the 29-year-old has tallied 80 goals in the last three seasons combined. Whether the Predators have worked out a package in order to keep Neal for their run next year is unknown as of yet. If that’s the case, another interesting name could be 23-year-old winger Pontus Aberg, who has showed a lot of promise in the AHL, including a 31-goal season this past year. He still played 15 games for the Predators, but managed just one goal and had a tough time cracking their rotation. Perhaps the least surprising options go to the Chicago Blackhawks. Long-standing rumors that Chicago has exposed 25-year-old defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk with the supposed agreement they would also take on the contract of Marcus Kruger and his 3.083MM for the next two years for additional costs suggest that Las Vegas already knows what they’re getting.

The Dallas Stars might hope that the Golden Knights take 26-year-old center Cody Eakin. The veteran had an off year after putting up three goals in 60 games, but had tallied 51 goals in the three years before that. The problem with Eakin is the three years he has left at $3.85MM per season. He was originally drafted by McPhee, so maybe the GM would be willing to take his chances with him. Dan Hamhuis could be a solid option as well if the Golden Knights are looking for a 34-year-old veteran defensive-minded blueliner. The Winnipeg Jets did expose 32-year-old Toby Enstrom after he waived his no-movement clause. The veteran could be the perfect person to lead a group of young Golden Knight defenders. Enstrom, despite starting to slow down, is still considered a solid defenseman. However, Winnipeg also left 22-year-old center Marko Dano available to Las Vegas. The former first-round pick in 2013 hasn’t been able to put together a full season, but is still young enough to put it all together. He put up four goals and seven assists last season in 38 games, but missed time due to a lower body injury and never regained his playing time after that.

While the St. Louis Blues exposed Jori Lehtera with the hopes they can package the veteran along with some picks to remove his contract off their books, which still has two years at $4.7MM per season, Las Vegas might be more enamored with 23-year-old Nail Yakupov, who is the former first-overall pick in the 2012 draft. While his career hasn’t exactly gone as planned, he has still shown some glimpses of potential and Las Vegas might be willing to take a chance on him. The Colorado Avalanche surprised a few by exposing goaltender Calvin Pickard. The 25-year-old didn’t have the greatest season last year, evidenced by his 3.02 GAA, but it was behind a weak defense. However, considering the amount of goaltending depth offered from the Eastern Conference, the team might ultimately pass on him considering there are other key goalies available ranging from Petr Mrazek to Marc-Andre Fleury to Philipp Grubauer to name just a few. They may have exposed Pickard to keep 29-year-old Semyon Varlamov away from McPhee, who also drafted the goaltender in Washington back in 2006. Besides that, Colorado left little else exposed.

Morning Notes: Doughty, Portland, Granato

June 15, 2017 at 11:08 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Start your engines Toronto Maple Leafs fans, because the speculative signings are about to get crazy. Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty was on TSN 1050 radio today and dropped a quote that will be shared all over the internet:

I think all of us Southern Ontario players, we secretly want to play for the Leafs, you know, we all have that kind of soft spot.

Doughty would go on to explain that he’s not sure how he would react to being that big of a “celebrity” in the city and said that’s the issue a lot of players have when deciding whether to sign with Toronto. Doughty of course plays in Los Angeles where he’s a small fish, but would become a megastar should he ever return to Ontario. The 27-year old defenseman has two years remaining on his current contract, and is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019.

The people of Portland, Maine will be getting a professional hockey team soon enough, as the parent company of the Philadelphia Flyers has purchased the defunct Alaska Aces of the ECHL and will move them to the northeastern city according to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post. The team is still unnamed and will hope to have an NHL affiliation before long.
Don Granato will indeed join the Chicago Blackhawks coaching staff for the upcoming season, working with Joel Quenneville and the also-announced Ulf Samuelsson among others. It was reported last week that Granato was in the running for an assistant coaching job, after working with the University of Wisconsin this season.
Shelley Anderson spoke to the Pittsburgh Penguins today as they cleaned out their lockers, and shared a ton of interesting information. Not the least of which was that Matt Murray’s injury sustained in the warm up of game 1 of the playoffs was a torn hamstring, making it impossible for him to play through it.
Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion is looking at all options when it comes to the draft, willing to move up or down in the first round according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. Ottawa currently holds the 28th overall pick, but could potentially deal it for the right addition to their squad after going deep into the playoffs this season. With Erik Karlsson only under contract for another two seasons, they may feel pressure to go after a Cup run right now.

Sheldon Brookbank Hired As AHL Assistant Coach

June 14, 2017 at 3:55 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

The Chicago Blackhawks have hired Sheldon Brookbank as an assistant coach for their AHL affiliate, bringing the former defenseman back to an organization where he won a Stanley Cup in 2013. Brookbank was one of the defensemen that Joel Quenneville has played at forward over the years, but didn’t have a huge role on the team in any capacity. He’ll join new Rockford IceHogs head coach Jeremy Colliton behind the bench next season on what is shaping up to be a very young coaching staff.

Chicago’s Impending Struggle To Be Cap Compliant

June 10, 2017 at 8:59 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 10 Comments

Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman has had the uncanny ability for years now to somehow find a way to squeeze his uber-talented rosters under the NHL salary cap. Bowman’s willingness to trade or let walk valued players with high-priced contracts only to replace them to the same effect with affordable veterans and young players has enabled the team to become the NHL’s dynasty franchise over the last decade. However, heading into 2017-18, has Bowman finally put himself in a position that he can’t get out of?

The NHL’s salary cap limit for next season has not yet been decided, but early indications are that it could remain flat or rise only a minimal amount. Based on 2016-17’s $73MM ceiling, the Chicago Blackhawks would be more than $4.5MM over the cap if the season started today (via CapFriendly). That total includes a total of 13 forwards, seven defenseman, and two goalies, ten of which will make under $1MM next season. What it doesn’t include is new contracts for restricted free agents Dennis Rasmussen and Tomas Jurco, the possibility of bringing back veteran defenseman Brian Campbell, or the Blackhawk’s major need for a backup goalie, which will only off-set the cap by Jeff Glass’ $600K contract.

Of course, Chicago does have some assistance this off-season in the form of the Expansion Draft, in which they will lose someone’s cap hit. The team certainly hopes that that cap hit is from Marcus Kruger. Kruger has played an important role for the Blackhawks as a two-way specialist and reliable third-line center, but at over $3MM annually, he’s just not affordable. Rumor has it that the team is willing to move picks and players if it means that the Vegas Golden Knights will select Kruger, but there is no guarantee that Vegas will take the bait. Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk has been offered up as a companion to Kruger for the Knights, which at $825K for a top-four defenseman would be a major loss for Chicago. However, if the Blackhawks want to protect forwards like Ryan Hartman or Richard Panik in the Expansion Draft, they currently would have no choice but to expose van Riemsdyk. Thus, the team really lacks the leverage to command any deal where the Knights take Kruger to get van Riemsdyk and such a deal may not even come to fruition. Chicago will do all it can, expansion-wise or not, to move Kruger, but it’s far from a done deal.

Even if they are successful in moving Kruger, the Chicago Sun Times’ Mark Lazerus opines that this may not be enough if the cap doesn’t go up significantly; and he’s not alone. Lazerus states that there is rampant speculation that the team may be forced to move a bigger name than Kruger to become cap compliant. Kruger’s salary would (currently) still leave the Blackhawks in the red and even he and van Riemsdyk wouldn’t do it. Bowman could use roster management to get under, but it would leave the team with little to no flexibility in the free agent market and even for in-season call-ups and demotions. Instead, one of Chicago’s core players might need to move. Lazerus knows that neither Brent Seabrook or Artem Anisimov have been asked to waive their No-Movement clauses to be dealt elsewhere and it’s hard to imagine the team trading many of their other No-Movement players like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, or Corey Crawford. Marian Hossa may as well be immovable as well, given that the 38-year-old has four years left on his contract at $5.275MM per. That leaves defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, who Lazerus believes could very well end up on the move. Hjalmarsson is the only high-priced player on the roster without a true No-Movement clause, as he has a limited No-Trade in which he can submit a 10-team list of destinations. This gives the team some flexibility to make a move they couldn’t with the others barring a waiver. Hjalmarsson carries a $4.1MM cap hit, which alone is insufficient, but in addition to Kruger and possibly others would get the Blackhawks where they need to be.

If it potentially takes Hjalmarsson, Kruger, and van Riemsdyk – two of Chicago’s top-four defenseman and a key penalty killer – along with goalie Scott Darling, already a cap casualty this off-season, to get under the salary cap for next season, is Bowman’s system really still working? Perhaps more than any other team in the NHL, Chicago is hoping for an unexpected bump in the salary cap for 2017-18. If that doesn’t happen, the Expansion Draft could just be the beginning of the Blackhawk’s shedding of key players this summer.

Expansion Primer: Chicago Blackhawks

June 10, 2017 at 12:38 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 5 Comments

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.

Dillon Fournier Retires Due To Injury

June 8, 2017 at 8:37 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

In another example of a career gone awry, Dillon Fournier has decided to hang up his skates. Scott Powers of The Athletic has the exclusive with the Chicago Blackhawks prospect, who has played sparingly the last few seasons thanks to multiple shoulder surgeries. Set to become a restricted free agent this summer, the Blackhawks will no longer have to decide whether to offer him a new contract.

It was just five years ago that Chicago made Fournier the 48th-overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft, bringing in this big impressive defenseman from the QMJHL to add to their prospect pool. He was taken two picks ahead of Colton Sissons, who is now starring for the Nashville Predators in the Stanley Cup Final. Still just 22, Fournier has played 13 games the past two seasons combined. Powers talks to Norm Maciver, Blackhawks assistant general manager:

Unfortunately, he had so many shoulder injuries. Any time it seemed like he was on the right track, it would be another setback. It’s just unfortunate, real nice kid. Sometimes in pro sports injuries can derail a lot of careers. Unfortunately for Dillon, it just didn’t work out.

It is unfortunate, because Fournier looked at one point like he had a good chance to make the NHL. The 6’2″ defenseman was an excellent skater who could compete at both ends of the rink. He scored 32 points in 36 games in his final year of junior. According to his agent, he’ll likely go back to school and perhaps play some college hockey in Canada.

Chicago Blackhawks Sign Czech Defenseman Jan Rutta

June 7, 2017 at 8:57 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The Chicago Blackhawks have won the recruiting war over Jan Rutta, signing him to an entry-level contract. The 26-year old was only eligible to sign a one-year contract and will be an unrestricted free agent at its conclusion. Rutta had been pursued by several NHL teams after a solid performance at the World Championships and a big season in the Czech Republic. Last month his agent Allen Walsh of Octagon Hockey said that he would sign with an NHL club this year, and both Edmonton and Calgary had been reported to have interest.

Chicago had already signed teammate and fellow Czech free agent David Kampf this spring, as the Blackhawks attempt to fill their fringe roster spots with cheap contracts. The team looks like it will lose another impressive young player because of cap troubles, making European and college free agents the best choice to back-fill their roster with cheap but experienced talent. Though Kampf is only 22 and will likely spend some time in the AHL, Rutta is already 26 and has years of professional experience under his belt. He’ll be in competition for an NHL roster spot right away.

When you watch the 6’3″ right-handed shot, Rutta makes you wonder how he hasn’t already been given a chance in the NHL as he has both the skill and size to make it there. While he won’t wow you with any one tool, he controls his gaps and recovers pucks well enough in his own end and features solid skating ability to get it out of traffic. He does have some flair on the powerplay, where he was used as a quarterback in the Czech Republic. It’s not clear if that would be part of his role in Chicago, but he does have the ability to find open lanes with his shot and get penalty killers moving back and forth.

Pierre LeBrun of TSN was first to break the deal.

Chicago Blackhawks To Hire Ulf Samuelsson

June 7, 2017 at 8:08 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 2 Comments

According to Craig Morgan of AZ Sports, the Chicago Blackhawks are set to name Ulf Samuelsson as their new assistant coach. The Hawks had been rumored to be after Samuelsson for a few weeks to replace the fired Mike Kitchen. Kitchen had been let go earlier this spring after the Hawks were swept out of the first round, causing many conflicting reports about whether or not Joel Quenneville had been part of the decisions. The head coach and Kitchen are long-time friends who go back to their playing days in the earlier 80s.

Samuelsson on the other hand has been coaching the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL recently, taking the team to a 39-29-8 record this season. It was his first head coaching gig, but he has nearly a decade worth of experience behind an NHL bench, first for the Coyotes and most recently with the New York Rangers. His 1,080 games as a mean-spirited defenseman give him even more insight into the game, and a fiery reputation. Samuelsson recorded 2,453 penalty minutes in his NHL career, and at one point was among the most feared players in the game.

Morgan has also heard that the team is attempting to bring Don Granato aboard in “some capacity.” Granato is currently working at the University of Wisconsin as an assistant coach with his brother, Tony and has previously been a head coach with the US Development Program and two teams in the AHL. His development of young players has been praised many times, perhaps leading to a similar role with the Blackhawks in the future.

What Market Will Markov Attract?

June 5, 2017 at 7:06 pm CDT | by Seth Lawrence 1 Comment

The market for Andrei Markov could be lukewarm or quite heated, and no one really seems to know which. Canadiens’ GM Marc Bergevin has been tight-lipped about his impending free agents, but it’s fair to assume he’ll have some interest in re-signing the Russian defender. That said, the cap situation for Montreal is not simple, and re-signing the dynamic unrestricted free-agent Alexander Radulov will likely take priority. The Habs also need to negotiate a contract with RFA Alex Galchenyuk, attempt to dump Tomas Plekanec’s salary, survive the expansion draft, and round out their forward corps. With Jordie Benn and Jeff Petry already looking to assume larger roles next season, Markov could easily slip through the cracks.

The 38 year-old earned a hefty $5.75 MM last season, but had reasonable production with 6 goals and 30 assists. His advanced possession numbers tell a tale, however, as he took a massive leap forward from the previous season, hitting a solid 54.0% Corsi For. His ice-time saw a slight drop (2:00 less per game), but he’s still seeing top-four minutes. Markov moves the puck well and is a power-play guru with a hard, accurate shot. He’s been the assistant captain on the Canadiens for many years and has never played in a different NHL city, but he could command a sizable final contract in this year’s complete drought of top-end players. If there ever were a time to cash in, this off-season could be it.

On the free-agent market, only Kevin Shattenkirk clearly outclasses Markov in terms of raw offensive ability from the blueline. A team might want to take a risk on a struggling but younger Michael Del Zotto or Dimitry Kulikov, but ultimately, Markov is the proven commodity. Considering that Markov has never won a championship, one would assume that if he were to leave the province of Quebec, it would be for a contender. There is no shortage of teams that could show interest. He could go to a perennial competitor on the cheap, such as the Blackhawks, or could opt for a squad like the Blue Jackets who are on the cusp of true contention. Where he lands is anyone’s guess at the moment, but it’s fair to expect he will make a positive impact wherever he does.

Offseason Keys: Chicago Blackhawks

June 3, 2017 at 2:57 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

While the expansion draft is set to headline a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months ahead. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Despite more roster turnover last offseason, most of the core of the Blackhawks remained intact and expectations were still high. Chicago played well during the season and earned the top seed in the Western Conference but things unraveled quickly from there as they were swept by Nashville in the first round of the playoffs. GM Stan Bowman has promised more changes to the roster which makes them a team to keep an eye on this summer. Here are a few keys to their offseason success.

Get Under The Salary Cap

30 of the 31 teams head into the offseason projected to be under the salary cap. The one team that isn’t is Chicago and not by an insignificant margin either. They have over $77.5MM already committed per next season per CapFriendly and the cap isn’t expected to jump all that much higher from the $73MM it was this season. A major factor in their situation was more than $3.5MM in bonuses being reached this year by several players, most prominently winger Artemi Panarin. As they finished the season at the cap ceiling, the charge for those bonuses being reached will be applied in 2017-18.

As a result, Bowman needs to find a way to trim a fair bit of payroll. What may prove challenging is that nine different players have some form of no-move or no-trade protection and most of those are their higher paid players.

Among the options to move is center Marcus Kruger. Earlier this week, it was reported that a deal was being worked on that would move Kruger to Vegas in an agreement that would also see the Golden Knights land young defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk. Kruger’s cap hit on its own isn’t particularly onerous ($3.083MM) but he’s a bottom six forward and it would make sense to try to free up space there over moving a top six option. Center Artem Anisimov has also been suggested as a player who could move but that would have a much bigger impact in their top six. One way or another, they need to free up a fair bit of payroll room.

New Backup Goaltender

With the offseason trade of Scott Darling to Carolina, the Blackhawks need a new backup goaltender. Their internal options are limited with Jeff Glass being the only other goalie under contract while their two full-time AHL goalies from last season are unrestricted free agents. As a result, they’ll likely be turning elsewhere to find the right fit.

The trade market is expected to be more robust than usual for netminders over the next few weeks but most of the players changing hands have bigger contracts which will keep Chicago away. Instead, free agency will be the place to look.

While there are a few bigger names that will hit the open market next month, there are several quality backups to choose from and there should be fewer vacancies than there are goalies available which should bode well for Chicago. With Corey Crawford entrenched as the starter plus their cap troubles, they aren’t expected to be in the market for the top backups but they should have no difficulty adding an NHL-quality option at a cheap price if they wait out the market.

Add Defensive Help

The back end has been a concern in Chicago for a little while now and it’s projecting to be that way next season as things currently stand. Unless Brian Campbell wants to take another pay cut, he probably won’t be able to stick around while trade deadline addition Johnny Oduya will also price himself out of what they can afford unless he wants to take a deal that’s well below market value. Plus, if the Vegas deal happens, they’ll find themselves without another option in van Riemsdyk as well.

The Blackhawks have a strong veteran core in Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Niklas Hjalmarsson but there are plenty of question marks after that. Gustav Forsling has good potential but only has half a season under his belt while 2016 offseason acquisition Michal Kempny had an up-and-down rookie campaign. Michal Rozsival remains on the roster but isn’t an option to play a regular role at this stage of his career.

In a perfect world, Bowman would find a way to add another top four option without taking away much from his roster. That’s probably too optimistic at this point but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them go after a couple of veteran bottom pairing options in free agency to at least try to help the bottom pairing and add some depth. It’s not the perfect solution but that’s about the only improvement that they can likely afford as things currently stand.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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