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Chicago Blackhawks must improve to become champions in 2017-2018 season

By Michael Szura

CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 15: The Chicago Blackhawks pose with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 2-0 in Game Six to win the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the United Center on June 15, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 15: The Chicago Blackhawks pose with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of 2-0 in Game Six to win the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Final at the United Center on June 15, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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After two years of first round exits, The Chicago Blackhawks shook up their roster to overcome the first round hump.

Following a 50 win season, most NHL teams wouldn’t shake things up. However, for the past decade, the Chicago Blackhawks haven’t been like most NHL teams. Blackhawks general manager, Stan Bowman (similar to all Blackhawks fans) was not content with back to back first round exits and made moves to address the Blackhawks struggles.

There’s no doubt that the core of the Blackhawks who’ve won 3 Stanley Cups together aren’t getting any younger. Having said that, I don’t believe the Blackhawks have passed their window of opportunity to return as Stanley Cup champions. The veteran core of the Blackhawks, along side the influx of young talent will keep the Blackhawks as top contenders in the west. But in order to truly contend and get past the first round, the Hawks must improve in certain areas on the ice.

Reigniting Toews

Any one who follows the Blackhawks can admit Johnathan Toews hasn’t been producing as well as he could be. I wouldn’t attribute Toews’ slump to age or a decline in ability, but to the constant changes made to the Toews’ line. In the past two seasons, Toews has not had consistency within his line which has most likely lead to chemistry problems.

With star two-way forward Marian Hossa out for the entire 2017-2018, Bowman decided to acquire Brandon Saad. Although some disagree with the Artemi Panarin for Saad trade, I personally believe Bowman killed two birds with one stone here. Saad fills the hole left by Hossa as a quality two way forward in the lineup. Most importantly, Bowman has brought stability to Toews’ line as Hawks fans hope to see the return of chemistry between Saad and Toews that brought two Stanley Cups to Chicago.

Chicago Blackhawks
(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /

Although the Blackhawks had to trade Panarin, they didn’t lose much long term anyway. With Panarin becoming a free agent after the 2018-2019 season, the Hawks just wouldn’t have been able to pay him enough.

Even so, with teammate Patrick Kane producing two of his best seasons along side Panarin, I don’t believe Kane’ productivity will take as much of a hit as Toews did losing Saad. The better Toews’ produces, the more that momentum shifts down and throughout the entire team.  Saad being able to re-elevate Toews’ productivity would be big for this team.

Addressing the defense

With an aging defense that hasn’t been playing well, improving the defense is a must in order for the Hawks to truly contend again. After trading away Niklas Hjalmarsson and losing Trevor Van Riemsdyk in the expansion draft, Bowman took an approach to get younger on the defensive side of the puck.

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Furthermore, by trading Hjalmarsson the Chicago Blackhawks acquired two young defenders in Connor Murphy and Laurent Dauphin.  Not only did this move make the Hawks younger, but more physical with the addition of Murphy which is a much needed physical presence. The Hawks also resigned Defenseman, Erik Gustafsson which also helps to keep their defense young.

However, Bowman was not finished after the Hjalmarsson trade. To further improve the defense the Hawks used four of nine draft picks on defense including first round pick Henri Jokiharju (29th) and second round pick Ian Mitchell (57th). Although these draft picks may not necessarily help the Hawks this coming season, it’s definitely a step in the right direction towards improving the team.

Winning faceoffs

If there’s one thing the Chicago Blackhawks absolutely have to work on, it is faceoffs. According to NHL.com, the Blackhawks ranked 29th in the league in face-off win percentage (47.5%). Plain and simple, winning faceoffs leads to scoring. Not only that, but less pressure would be put on Corey Crawford due to less time spent in their own zone.

It’s so important that Quenneville stresses winning faceoffs because the more faceoff wins the Blackhawks have, the more time they can spend attacking on the offensive end while also giving relief to our defense. With a younger and less experienced defense, the less pressure they have to face per game the better off they are.

Next: Blackhawks trade Panarin for Saad

Fans can admit the Hawks have their work cut out for them this season. I like the steps that the front office took towards retooling the team. The Chicago Blackhawks have as good a chance as any other team to win entering the 2017-2018 season. Although this won’t be the same Hawks team from a year ago. However, if the Hawks were able to win 50 games last year, they could even more dangerous this season and hopefully throughout the playoffs with improvements made.

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