Chicago Blackhawks: Should Dylan Strome come back?
The Chicago Blackhawks have a big decision to make with Dylan Strome’s contract.
The Chicago Blackhawks haven’t done a great job handling their depth players over the past few seasons. They have traded a log of the young ones who had star potential to relieve their cap and get rid of bad contracts. A good portion of them went on to be great players with their new teams. For that reason, the handling of Dylan Strome is very important to them. Of all their offseason decisions, this is one of the most important ones for them.
The trade
Strome has had a very up and down career so far. He didn’t have the best start to his career with the Arizona Coyotes after being the 3rd overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. The Hawks then acquired him for Nick Schmaltz in 2018-19. He came to Chicago and thrived as his final season numbers were 20 goals and 37 assists for 57 points in 78 games. 20 of those games were spent with Arizona don’t the remaining 58 were with Chicago. He clearly liked his new home because the points came much more frequently.
Second-year with Chicago
The second-year didn’t go as well for him. He wasn’t bad by any means but he didn’t look like the high-end second-line center behind Jonathan Toews that he was the year prior. He ended the season with 12 goals and 26 assists for 38 points in 58 games before the pause. It is the production of a pretty good player but not what we were expecting from him. The two different seasons make it hard to gauge how much he is actually worth.
Alex DeBrincat
Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome seem like they are the two best friends that anybody could have. DeBrincat is a sniper while Strome is more of a playmaking centerman. DeBrincat is locked up for three more years after this one so having Strome there to play with him might be the reason to keep him. They played together in junior with the Erie Otters back in the day and were awesome there and things haven’t really changed here in Chicago. If only they could get that Connor McDavid guy back with them to recreate that entire line from Erie.
The contract
The contract term and dollars have to be the biggest question for the Hawks. They don’t have all that much money to spend and there are also plenty of other issues to address. You would have to imagine that his contract is in the 3-4 million per year range depending on how long he signs for. It is just up to the Hawks to decide if he is worth paying or getting an asset by trading his rights to someone else. Kirby Dach is also there which makes the decision feel even more interesting because he can be that number two (for now) center behind Toews.
Hot. Matthew Highmore was awesome for Chicago in the bubble. light
Some people might not want him back for a variety of reasons. He is a mess in his own zone but the talent is undeniable. The Hawks are probably a better team with him there instead of a replacement-level player so they might as well take a chance on him again. He has the skill set to explode offensively similar to what he did in 2018-19. Letting a kid like this go is something you have to be careful with.