Chicago Blackhawks: Has team done enough to address defensive woes?

The Chicago Blackhawks have been in the bottom half of the NHL in goals allowed the last two seasons. Have they solved the problem?

Look back to the most recent Stanley Cup season for the Chicago Blackhawks when they were second in the league in terms of goals allowed per game (2.27). Having a great defense to accompany a good offensive system is paramount if the Hawks have any chance at winning another Cup in the 2019-2020 season.

The past two seasons, the Blackhawks have been in the bottom half of the league in goals allowed per game, with 3.10 GA/G and 3.55 GA/G in the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons respectively. Their offense was actually quite good last season forcing 3.26 goals per game, which ranked 8th in the league.

However, it is all for naught when the defense can’t seem to hold a lead. The core of this team is still generally intact but both Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith are aging. Seabrook, 34, has been trending downward since the 2016-2017 season and finished with a plus-minus rating of -6 last season.

Keith, 36, has still been a productive player finishing with a +13 rating last season while tallying 40 points (6 goals, 34 assists) and the Hawks have him signed through the 2022-2023 season. Seabrook is under contract through the 2023-2024 season but the problem is that the Blackhawks have lacked a true supporting cast on the defensive lines.

They’ve taken a hit with the loss of guys like Niklas Hjalmarsson, David Rundblad, and Johnny Oduya who were key contributors to the success of that 2015 Stanley Cup team. The Blackhawks have been proactive in trying to fix the problem. Stan Bowman drafted both Adam Boqvist and  Nicolas Beaudin in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft.

There is an outside chance that Boqvist plays the entire season with Chicago. He can technically play in a maximum of 9 games before his three-year entry level contract time kicks but it seems more likely that he spends another season in the Ontario Hockey League. Remember he is still just 18 years old so there’s no real rush to get him to Chicago if he’s not ready.

The Hawks did trade for 24-year old defenseman Olli Maatta in exchange for Dominik Kahun and a 2019 fifth-round draft pick. Maatta was limited to just 60 games last season but still recorded a +9 rating with 14 points (1 goal, 13 assists). In the 2017-2018 season, he played in all 82 regular-season games for the Pittsburgh Penguins and tallied 29 points (7 goals, 22 assists).

A puzzling move was the trade that sent defensman Henri Jokiharju to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for winger Alexander Nylander. Jokiharju posted a -7 rating in his first full season a year ago but that could be skewed by how bad the defense was a group. Nylander, 21, played in just 12 games last season and tallied 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists). It’s too early to tell what the Hawks have in him, but again the move was odd to give up a defenseman.

There’s no doubt the Hawks have a ton of firepower on offense with Patrick Kane posting a career-high in points last season (110). They should be in the top of the league in terms of goals forced per game but if the defensive acquisitions aren’t enough, Stan Bowman might still be searching for answers in the 2019-2020 season.