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Chicago Blackhawks: A possible new role for Andrew Shaw

By Vincent Parise

CHICAGO, IL - APRIL 19: Andrew Shaw #65 of the Chicago Blackhawks watches as the puck sails over Brian Elliott #1 of the St. Louis Blues on a goal by Duncan Keith in the third period in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the United Center on April 19, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. The Blues defeated the Blackhawks 4-3. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - APRIL 19: Andrew Shaw #65 of the Chicago Blackhawks watches as the puck sails over Brian Elliott #1 of the St. Louis Blues on a goal by Duncan Keith in the third period in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the United Center on April 19, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. The Blues defeated the Blackhawks 4-3. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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Chicago Blackhawks Andrew Shaw
(Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

Power Play

The power play is an interesting topic when talking about Andrew Shaw. He didn’t have the top quality power play production with the Montreal Canadiens as he only had three goals and three assists for six power play points. Those aren’t numbers that jump out at you if you’re just a casual hockey fan but there are some in depth things to consider when looking at those.

Andrew Shaw ranked seventh on the Canadiens in power play time on ice and there are a few guys that are just below him by a few seconds. He averaged 2:02 of ice time on the power play per game so it shouldn’t come to much of a surprise that his numbers with the man advantage weren’t all that impressive.

Now he comes to a Chicago Blackhawks team that found some success on the power play in the second half of the season after having it be atrocious in the first half. This is a team that might separate some of their top skill forwards into two good units with the man advantage. You would have to think that Shaw gets some time as a net-front guy on one of the two units.

To be honest, I think the smartest move would be to have him on the top unit that gets the most minutes. He is the type of guy that can win the puck on power play dump ins and get the puck to a guy like Kane to allow him to do his magic. He can also tip in pucks with his stick, body, face, etc and he can slam in rebounds well as well.

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Being on a unit with the best possible playmakers might benefit both Shaw and the team and possibly improve the power play by a percent or two right there. Either way, it is awesome to have Shaw back in Chicago and think about how he is going to impact this team.

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