Chicago Blackhawks’ Michal Kempny A Good Addition To Lineup

The Chicago Blackhawks don’t appear to be making changes among their forwards, but the defense may be getting a different look for tonight’s critical Game 4 against the Nashville Predators

April 6 was the last time defenseman Michal Kempny played in a game for the Chicago Blackhawks, who were losers at Anaheim that night. Kempny has not participated in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, watching his team go down 3-0 to the Nashville Predators.

That might change tonight though, as the Blackhawks must win their next four games or prepare for their offseason. In Wednesday’s skate, coach Joel Quenneville had Kempny skating alongside Brent Seabrook, with Johnny Oduya on the “fourth pairing” with Gustav Forsling.

Kempny very well could make his NHL postseason debut tonight, with Q choosing the playoff rookie over trade-deadline acquisition Oduya. It’s not too late to make lineup changes unless your team has already lost four games in a series, but this is a move that probably should have been made sooner.

Kempny brings key element: speed

The Blackhawks blue line has looked very, very slow in this series. The Predators are rushing all six of the Blackhawks D-men, forcing them into poor decisions in all three zones. It’s been critical to the Preds getting higher-quality chances on offense and the Blackhawks getting no offense push from the back end, in addition to Corey Crawford facing a number of odd-man rushes and quality Nashville scoring chances.

Chicago Blackhawks

Kempny might be a playoff rookie, but one thing he would bring to the lineup is something Chicago’s blue line is truly missing: speed.

Kempny is more fleet of foot than any of the six Blackhawks who have lined up on the back end in this series. Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson are arguably the quickest of the group, and they’ve both looked terribly overwhelmed.

On the other end of the spectrum (the spectrum has been entirely negative, in this regard), Oduya looks like he might keel over any minute. He spent the end of Game 3’s final play on his knees after getting burned by Kevin Fiala — a speedy but inexperienced forward.

Kempny may have his flaws, but he’s at least going to be able to move the puck with his feet for Chicago. This has been a major issue for the Blackhawks on both ends with regard to their defense.

The six guys who have been playing are trying to move everything with their sticks, resulting in easier shutdowns for the Predators on defense and less trouble holding the puck in on offense.

Kempny will at least give the Blackhawks a chance in spots to beat the Predators’ speed from the back end. If you’re Coach Q, you have to play this card after watching your team get swamped in all zones in Game 3.

Protecting Kempny versus utilizing his speed

Now, if Kempny plays alongside Seabrook, that would probably mean he’ll get a solid amount of playing time right off the bat — and on the road, no less. Preds coach Peter Laviolette will get to pick and choose which forwards Kempny sees.

It’s a dangerous proposition for Q, but again, one that has to be made. He can’t just continue to hope some of the Blackhawks defenders will magically find their legs enough to start breaking the Preds’ neutral-zone trap and offensive forecheck.

That being said, Kempny was far from perfect in the regular season. Certainly a little skittish because any mistake he made got him benched, Kempny struggled to maintain the puck along the boards and had some iffy passing moments.

Hopefully, Kempny sees a spot in the Game 4 lineup as a vote of confidence from the coach who had previously benched him, and hopefully that leads to more relaxed play from the Czech athlete.

It’s a lot to ask from Kempny to go from not playing to possibly seeing 20 or more minutes in tonight’s game. But this is the right move for the Blackhawks simply because Kempny can actually skate the team out of dangerous situations and into more positive ones.

Next: 3 Keys To Game 4 Victory Against Preds

Although I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Blackhawks jumble the defensive pairings all night based on the score and Q’s trust level in Kempny, let’s hope the 26-year-old’s speed is the right touch to push the Blackhawks a step closer to a wild comeback in this series.