Chicago Blackhawks: Two forwards instead of two defensemen

The Chicago Blackhawks have had a decent offseason so far, but there are some things that still remain questionable as we watch it unfold.

The Chicago Blackhawks are in a retooling mode. They have a nice core that has shown they can win big games in the most stressful times. With guys like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in the lineup and some refreshing new young guns like Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome in the fold, they will like their chances next season.

However, this team was not very good defensively in 2018-19. In fact, they were terrible. The penalty kill was awful and they couldn’t keep the puck out of their own net. They addressed that a little bit this summer by putting a bandaid on it. They traded for Calvin de Haan and Olli Maatta so far and that will improve the group as a whole. They did, however, blow two chances at having guys who will be good on the blue line long term.

They drafted Kirby Dach third overall, who by all accounts is a really good player. The problem is, they passed on a guy named Bowen Byram who is projected to be the only number one defenseman in the draft and has the ceiling of a guy like Duncan Keith had in his prime. This is viewed as a mistake and now Byram will play for the division rival Colorado Avalanche.

The reason people used to justify this move is the fact that the Blackhawks do have a lot of defenseman in the system that they have used high draft picks on. One of those guys was Henri Jokiharju, who the Blackhawks just traded to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Alexander Nylander. No, not William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Alex of the Buffalo Sabres. Alex hasn’t been able to stick in the NHL yet and his ability to contribute at the NHL level is still very much in question.

You might think the same can be said for Jokiharju but that simply isn’t true. The Blackhawks were just being careful with him last season, and rightfully so. It is very hard to develop young defenseman and he was on the right track. In fact, when on the ice in 2018-19 he was one of the Blackhawks best defenseman. He led all defenders in CF%, xGF%, and SCF% which is incredible for a 19-year-old kid, sheltered minutes or not. He was also on a 26 point pace over 82 games for Chicago and would have made a great partner for Duncan Keith this season.

Now, Buffalo gets his services and will benefit greatly from it. It just seems weird that Stan Bowman viewed two forwards in Kirby Dach and Alex Nylander as a better get than Bowen Byram and Henri Jokiharju, especially when scoring was absolutely no issue for this team last year but defending poorly is single-handedly why they missed the playoffs. The trade of Jokiharju also means he has traded every first round pick from 2011-17. Very disheartening moves if you are a Chicago Blackhawks fan.

These moves might seem okay in the short term because Stan is trying to save his own job, but these don’t appear to be trades that will be beneficial in the future at all. Hopefully they do but it doesn’t look that way right now.