Chicago Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa: Grade For 2016-17 Season

Veteran Marian Hossa showed he can still be a productive member of the Chicago Blackhawks.  Despite a disappointing campaign last year, he turned it around with a resurgence this season.

Remember at the end of the 2015-16 season?  Marian Hossa was relegated from the first line to the third line towards the end of the season.  Even though this line did well in the playoffs, Hossa’s regular season wasn’t anywhere near as productive as previous years.

At 37 years of age, it was widely thought this could be the beginning of the end for the power forward.  He was washed up; his age had finally caught up to him.

Well, it turns out that a long offseason did Hossa a world of good.  Many say he must have found the fountain of youth, as he had quite the resurgence in this past 2016-17 season.  His regular-season statistics were as follows:

73 games, 26 goals, 19 assists, 45 points, plus-7 rating, 49.2 Corsi-for (even strength)

Comparison to last year  

Since we know Hossa was in a bit of a slump last season, let’s first take a look at some comparisons.  In the 2015-16 season, Hossa participated in 64 games, with 13 goals and 20 assists for 33 points.  He had a plus-10 rating, and a Corsi-for of 52.8.

Obviously, seeing that he had twice as many goals this season versus last is one of the biggest positives.  It’s also nice to note that he played in 73 games this season (64 games last season), indicating Hossa was relatively healthy for most of the year.  Considering he’s now 38 years old, this is an awfully good sign that Hossa knows how to take care of himself.

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Some negatives to consider are that his plus/minus rating was down from plus-10 last season to plus-7 this season.  His Corsi-for was also down (49.2 this season compared to 52.8 last season).  Both numbers are nothing to get too alarmed about, especially since we know the Chicago Blackhawks as a whole have had declining possession numbers over the past few years.

Hossa’s time on ice is down.  He averaged 17:16 minutes last year, compared to 16:51 minutes this year.  But this makes sense, considering he played mostly on the third line this season compared to the first line last season.  Proportionally, his shots on goal are down a bit as well (167 this year compared to 191 last year).

What we can take from all this is that Hossa is not being utilized in the same way as he was last season.  He has a lesser role.  But he has accepted that, and he and the team are still seeing positive production from him.  This is a good sign.

Comparison to teammates  

This is where Hossa really stands out.  This season, his 26 goals was third on the team.  His 45 points was tied with Artem Anisimov for fifth on the team.  Hossa came up in clutch situations in that he had seven game-winning goals.  This was tied for first on the team, also with Anisimov.  He had three overtime goals.  No one else had more than one.  His 167 shots ended up being sixth on the team.

Washed up and unproductive?  Nah, I’d say not.

Other assets  

Of course, we can’t forget that Hossa still has one of the best two-way games in the league.  His defensive attributes are invaluable.  And he’s so hard to get off the puck.  I love watching Hossa play the game.  At times, it seems like he’s just coasting out there.  But what he’s really doing is playing smart and reserving energy.  Then all the sudden, he sees his play.  He has a surge of energy and speed, and there he is in the middle of things, making players much younger than him look silly.

Hossa played a lot alongside rookie Ryan Hartman this past season.  The two seemed to build some good chemistry.  I’d like to see if they can pick up where they left off this coming season.  Although he seems not to be the most vocal guy, I’m guessing Hossa leads by example on the team.  Younger players look up to him, and try to emulate him.

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Let’s also remember that Hossa offers flexibility.  He can be utilized throughout the lineup.  Mainly due to his defensive responsibility and his long-time chemistry with Jonathan Toews, Hossa could still be used on the first line.

What about a line of Richard Panik-Toews-Hossa?  Or remember when Vinnie Hinostroza-Hartman-Hossa found some success on the third line earlier this past season?  What if Coach Q wanted to move Patrick Kane up to the first line?  Hossa could take his place on the right side of the second line.  The point is that there are lots of options.

The 500 milestone  

One can’t exactly put together a post about Big Hoss’ season without mentioning that he reached his career 500-goal milestone back in October.  Here’s a video of the goal:

And how can we forget the famous nose-honk by his adorable daughter during the ceremony where he was honored?

Next: Ryan Hartman Season Grade

Final Grade: B

Hossa might not be the No. 1 guy anymore, but he showed this past season that he’s not by any means washed up just yet.  Utilized the right way, he can still be a very productive member of this team.

Hossa will be 39 years old mid-way through next year, so there is definitely the concern that father time will catch up to him.  But at Hossa’s postseason exit interview, he claimed he feels great.  He said he’s looking forward to next year.  I, for one, can’t wait to see if he can build on a solid 2016-17 campaign.