Chicago Blackhawks: Goaltending is going to be an issue

As of right now, goaltending is going to be a major issue for the 2020-21 Chicago Blackhawks.

The Chicago Blackhawks are in a tough spot with their goaltending. By now, you know how things shook out with Corey Crawford and Robin Lehner. Each of them was elite but is now gone so the position is in shambles going into 2020-21. The goalie market was actually pretty wide open during the free agency period but they are pretty much all scooped up. The Hawks are currently sitting with three goalies that they really can’t trust to be good number ones.

They acquired Malcolm Subban from the Vegas Golden Knights in the trade that sent Robin Lehner the other way. He isn’t all that good and hasn’t really lived up to that first-round draft (Boston Bruins) status. He could randomly turn the corner but fans shouldn’t expect it at this point. He has a career record of 30-23-7 which isn’t the worst record of all time (on an elite team) but his 2.97 goals-against average and .899 save percentage are pretty ugly numbers.

Collin Delia is probably the best bet to be a good starter for this team next year. His NHL career sample is small with only 18 games played. He does have a .906 save percentage but the 3.65 goals-against average is pretty bad. The hope is that if he hits the NHL crease next year, the Hawks see major improvement.

The third option is the less known commodity right now. Kevin Lankinen is a 25-year-old Finnish goaltender who has never seen an NHL minute of ice time. He has pretty good numbers in his short two years with the Rockford Ice Hogs but he isn’t really seen as this big-time goalie prospect either. He will probably have his chance at some point during the 2020-21 season whenever that may be so we have to hope he is able to take advantage.

All of this sounds like it may have a positive spin on a lousy situation and that is because it does. This team probably isn’t going to be all that good next year, especially in a loaded Central Division (all eight teams were in the bubble)  so they might as well see what they have in the young netminders.

If anything, they will be able to see which goalies are worth keeping for another look beyond next year and which ones they should move on from. It might be painful to watch at times but this team seems to be committed to getting younger. As we have seen in the past, you build good NHL teams from the crease out.