Chicago Blackhawks: Goaltending is going to be a nightmare in 2021

The Chicago Blackhawks have a nightmare goaltending situation going into the 2021 season.

The Chicago Blackhawks have a mess in the crease going into the season. They are probably not in the position to add anyone via trade and the free agents are all gone so they have what they have going into 2021. It is not a solid group there getting ready to start so it is probably going to be a nightmare for the entire 56 game season. Someone might step up and play well but based on their track records, this isn’t going to be very pretty.

On the Training Camp roster, there is Malcolm Subban, Collin Delia, Kevin Lankinen, Cale Morris, and Matthew Tomkins. Of those five, Subban and Delia are going to be the two that share the net if everyone stays healthy. You can expect Lankinen to be the third-string for them and he may even get a game (or more) if one of the other two doesn’t play well.

Of course, there are a few things that led to this dilemma for the Hawks. For one, they decided to trade Robin Lehner to the Vegas Golden Knights. He was on a one-year deal and didn’t think they needed to bring him back (or even try) so they sent him to the Golden Knights for pennies on the dollar. He then signed a five year deal with them to share the net with Marc-Andre Fleury.

Corey Crawford wanted to come back but he signed with the New Jersey Devils because the Hawks decided that they want to move on. That’s right, a team that is “trying to win” let two elite goalies go for almost nothing. Then, they sent out a letter about rebuilding but have made no other moves that suggest they are rebuilding. Instead, it actually looks like they tried to make themselves better but it obviously isn’t going to work.

If the Hawks can hope for anything this season, it will be that they see the development from some of their young players. That would be nice because they aren’t going to be a very good hockey team as far as wins and losses. They are also not going to be great defensively and there aren’t elite goalies there anymore to carry them. This is going to be a tough year in the crease for sure but it will be nice to have hockey back in the mix.