Who Replaces Injured Patrick Kane?

The Chicago Blackhawks are believed to be a very deep organization and that depth will be fully tested with the Patrick Kane injury which is believed to be a season ending injury for the Chicago Blackhawks superstar.

The question is who fills in for the injured Patrick Kane and the short answer is NOBODY!! There is nobody on the roster that can do what Patrick Kane does on a nightly basis, but we can look at who will try to fill his skates while he’s healing up from his injury.

On Current Roster

First on my list is Patrick Sharp.  Yes, those trade rumors came to a screeching halt in seconds after Patrick Kane was injured, the most seasoned Blackhawks forward who collected his 500th point while wearing a Chicago Blackhawks uniform last night has a mission, and now he will be called to bring his A Game for the rest of the season.  Sharp can fill the scoring aspect missed while Kane is out and will be asked to carry a heavy offensive load.

Second on my list is Kris Versteeg.  Versteeg since returning from his own injury has scored 4 goals in 7 games and looks to have not derailed off his comeback season.  If there ever was a player that tried to be a Patrick Kane clone it’s Versteeg and his knee and season look ready for the assignment.  Versteeg can’t do what Kane does but he can do quite a bit healthy and that is exactly what he’s been most of the season.

From Rockford

The obvious choice is Teuvo Teravainen coming back up to the team and being throw on the top two lines to spark the offense.  Teuvo was stuck with the bottom six during his first stint with the Blackhawks,  which basically meant he was throwing beautiful passes out there to guys who simply can’t finish off them into the back of the net (i.e. Andrew Shaw) Teuvo is a pass first guy with the entire organization say shoot more which is pretty much what everyone was saying to Kane when he first came into the league.

My second choice from Rockford is Mark McNeill. It looked like he was about to get the call up before he was injured this past fall with everyone saying timing is everything.  McNeill has 14 goals and 11 assists on the season and at one time before his injury the most dominant offensive player on the ice for Rockford. McNeill can play both center and wing and would fit in on any line offensively with the Hawks.

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Wild Card

The Wild Card for the Hawks is a trade.  If the Hawks put Kane on LTIR they clear over 6 million dollars and that’s a whole lot of salary cap space for the Hawks to trade for an offensive threat instead of the nickel and dime defensive player store that Stan Bowman has been shopping from this past week.  The Blackhawks and Stan Bowman don’t make big splashes at the trade deadline, but the Kane injury may change that strategy this year!

It opens up a whole new world for the Hawks but it’s a universe no Hawks fans really want to experience! One name already thrown out there on Twitter is Phil Kessel so yes, this next week could be fun.

What do you think? Who Replaces Kane?

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