Chicago Blackhawks: 6 potential moves to get back to contention
By Clay Swallow
Give Corey Crawford some help
Maybe the most obvious X-factor of the upcoming season is the health of number 50. Corey Crawford has been able to cover up a lot of warts for the Blackhawks the last couple of seasons. He has stolen a countless number of games for the Blackhawks and may have given Stan Bowman a false sense of security about his roster. After Crow went down, it all but signified the end of a realistic chance that the Hawks had of competing for a playoff spot, let alone a Cup. The backup situation was horrendous, and playing in front of a porous defense, they got exposed routinely.
For these reasons, finding a backup goalie who can give the Hawks 25-to-30 strong games over the course of a season to keep Crawford fresh for the playoffs (assuming they are in contention again) is a priority. The Hawks will have multiple choices for a backup this offseason but I want to focus on two more prominent ones.
The first one is Carter Hutton, who split time in St. Louis last year with Jake Allen. Reports are that Hutton wants to test the market and see if he can land a starting job somewhere or at least split time more evenly then he did in St. Louis. Hutton would be a significant upgrade over Forsberg and Delia. Hutton will likely command close to $3.5 million per year on the open market, so it is a bit of a stretch to say that the Hawks can afford him.
A more realistic option that the Blackhawks have been rumored to have interest in is Cam Ward. Ward is a long time member of the Carolina Hurricanes and is a former Con Smythe winner. There is definitely a value to the experience and winning pedigree attached to Ward, however his best days seem to be behind him and Bowman must be careful not to over pay for the past as he’s recently done with a couple members of the Blackhawks. The ideal situation for the Hawks is to get ward on a two or three-year deal worth around $2 million per year. That would give them a solid backup for a good value price.