Chicago Blackhawks: Three reasons they were sellers this year
Underperformances
If the Chicago Blackhawks were ever going to make the playoffs this year, they needed all hands on deck. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are great but no two players can carry a whole team. Brandon Saad and Dominik Kubalik have been good players this year but too many other guys underperformed. The goaltending was very good but the defense was not.
Erik Gustafsson was sent packing and his underperformance so far this year was a big reason why. He had 60 points on a non-playoff team in 2018-19 and was well off that pace this year. If he was just a little bit better this year, the team might have been better and in a playoff race right now. He was also not very good in his own end at any point in his career which was a big problem as a whole for Chicago.
Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome also deserve a little bit of blame for the team being sellers this year. DeBrincat had 41 goals last season. Only five players had more that season. Right now, he has 16 goals which are way off the pace he was on last season. Strome was his center last season and he has in no way lived up to how he played last season either. These two were supposed to lead the scoring depth beyond Toews and Kane but it just hasn’t happened.
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The Blackhawks can only hope that they improve these things for next season. It is going to be tough but they already have guys who have proven that they can play at a high level. One smart offseason with the draft, free agency, and bounce back years could have this team where they want to be by this time next ear. The biggest thing is the organization realizing what the issues are.