Chicago Blackhawks Roundtable: Young Players And Draft Positioning

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Apr 17, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg (9) battles for a loose puck after being hit by Chicago Blackhawks center Nick Schmaltz (8) during the first period in game three of the first round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

This week’s Chicago Blackhawks roundtable will take a look at players who will be in their sophomore seasons very soon, as well as what the Blackhawks need to do in the 2017 NHL Draft

This blog, among other blogs and Chicago Blackhawks fans, has given coach Joel Quenneville the occasional flack for not giving some young players a shot at various times since he took over in 2008. But in the 2016-17 season, Coach Q flipped that stigma out of necessity.

Plenty of guys wound up with their first legitimate NHL action as a result of the Blackhawks being salary cap-strapped yet again. Ryan Hartman, Nick Schmaltz, Gustav Forsling, Michal Kempny, Vinnie Hinostroza, Tanner Kero and Tyler Motte all saw extended looks on hockey’s biggest stage after not having such an opportunity before.

There’s no doubt many of these guys, if not all of them, will be very important pieces for the Blackhawks moving forward. The cap doesn’t project to rise a whole lot in the immediate future, and the Blackhawks are likely better off building from within right now than trying to find more temporary stopgaps on the open market (which has failed mightily in recent seasons).

Today, as part of our Chicago Blackhawks roundtable, we’ll be taking a look at some of these guys who are preparing for their sophomore seasons in Chicago — so long as they make the roster out of training camp. Here are today’s official roundtable questions:

Question 1: Which Blackhawks whose first season on the team was 2016-17 do you feel is most important to next season’s team and why?

Question 2: What position would you like to see the Blackhawks focus on most during the NHL draft and why?

Let’s see what our esteemed panel of writers had to say this week.

Nov 5, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Michal Kempny (6) and Dallas Stars right wing Adam Cracknell (27) during the game at the American Airlines Center. The Blackhawks defeat the Stars 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

Greg Bradshaw

Question 1: Nick Schmaltz’s sophomore season will be the most important for the Blackhawks next year. When Schmaltz got hot for the ‘Hawks, he helped to solidify the top line into a serious threat. His streaky play also led the Blackhawks to a nice streak of their own throughout the beginning of 2017.

Schmaltz needs to gain this confidence back by whatever means necessary, whether that means he continues to focus primarily on wing or at the center position — where he very often struggled with faceoff battles. The kid has excellent vision and puck senses. It all comes down to working out the kinks and building the confidence back up.

Question 2: The Blackhawks simply have to search for defenseman in this year’s draft along with another true center. The Blackhawks came into the season with what on paper looked to be their most solid blue line in quite a few years. However, things didn’t go so swimmingly.

The position has to improve, and what time would be better than with Chicago’s first-round pick in their its backyard with the ‘Hawks’ faithful watching?

Chicago Blackhawks

George Clifford

Question 1: With all the anxiety swirling around the ‘Hawks’ D-corps, I see Michal Kempny as the player with the biggest potential to make a major contribution to the team next season. Right from the start of last season, Kempny showed the attributes that make him such an intriguing addition to the team — a powerful skater, strong on the puck with a heavy shot.

But after committing several costly penalties over the first six weeks, he was benched for most of December and ended up skating in only 50 regular-season games, and one playoff game against Nashville.

When he played, Kempny was mostly paired with either Brent Seabrook or Michal Rozsival and compiled the highest puck possession numbers of all Blackhawks skaters, showing he can move the puck and initiate scoring chances. His 76 hits were second only to Seabrook among ‘Hawks defensemen.

With a year’s worth of NHL ice time under his skates, the durable 26-year-old Czech blueliner definitely has the talent and legs to log 70-plus games and should get real consideration for heavy minutes on the second pairing, regardless of what happens with over-the-hill or injury-prone players like Brian Campbell and Johnny Oduya.

The Blackhawks are definitely a team in transition, and need the younger players to deliver on their huge potential. Guys like Ryan Hartman, Tanner Kero and Nick Schmaltz were doing it up front last season — now it’s time for defensemen like Kempny and Gustav Forsling to step up.

Question 2: A speedy power forward who can score. OK — every team’s looking to land the next Connor McDavid, so how ‘bout a big netminder to spark some competition among the group hoping to succeed Corey Crawford?

Not likely, at least in the early rounds, and I expect Stan Bowman to trade for a veteran goaltender this summer now that Scott Darling’s gone to Carolina. That leads me to a right-handed defenseman, but the ‘Hawks already have a boatload of mediocre blueliners “in the system.”

Mar 18, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Chicago Blackhawks center John Hayden (40) during their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. The Blackhawks beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /

Gail Kauchak

Question 1: Hartman or Hayden? Hayden or Hartman? I’m guessing Ryan Hartman is going to get a lot of votes on this one, so I’m going to go ahead and make a case for John Hayden.

This young man bypassed the AHL and came straight from Yale to the NHL. He was given a spot on the first line alongside superstar Jonathan Toews. No pressure, kid!

Not only did Hayden hold his own, but he scored a goal in his second-ever NHL game. In 12 games played, he ended up with three assists to go along with this goal. He looked like he belonged, and showed he can play at this level.

Now, we all know Toews has struggled the past few seasons, ever since left wing Brandon Saad left for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Saad was a big, power forward who complemented Toews well.

Hayden is also a left-winger. He’s not afraid to throw around his 6-foot-3, 223-pound frame , and he built instant chemistry with Toews. This is the kind of player who could fill a much-needed role for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Question 2: I’d like to see the Chicago Blackhawks concentrate on goaltending in the upcoming draft. They really don’t have a viable prospect in the pipeline right now. Backup goaltender Scott Darling has moved on to a starting position with the Carolina Hurricanes.

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The ’Hawks will probably trade for an NHL-experienced backup to replace him, but this is only a temporary fix. In the meantime, starter Corey Crawford isn’t getting any younger, at 32 years of age. Although considered at the prime of his career right now, this isn’t going to last forever. The ’Hawks need to look towards the future when it comes to this very important position.

Colin Likas

Question 1: I’ll offer up Nick Schmaltz as my response. I think the Blackhawks are about to be in a very interesting spot regarding their centers. When you look at the current roster, you can boast Jonathan Toews, Artem Anisimov, Tanner Kero, Marcus Kruger, Dennis Rasmussen and Andrew Desjardins as center options, in addition to Schmaltz.

Well, Kruger seems a prime candidate to go in the expansion draft. Rasmussen and Desjardins are both free agents. Toews and Anisimov have dealt with various injury issues of late and are relied upon for heavy minutes. So Schmaltz is probably going to be asked to step up in a major way next season.

And maybe it’s just on the wing, which is also important. But I feel like he’ll get a call during the 2017-18 season to work at center. It may be on a bottom-six line, but the Blackhawks have the ability to fill their bottom six with low-cost, higher-quality athletes to complement Schmaltz in that role.

The big key for Schmaltz, should be get this call, is improving his prowess at the faceoff dot. Whether it’s just lack of size or not having an NHL-ready faceoff style down pat, Schmaltz was bad at the dot this season. Some offseason lifting and work with the Blackhawks coaching staff can pay huge dividends in both areas.

On top of all this, Schmaltz is one of those guys who can play an east-west game in addition to north-south. This means he can make plays happen with cross-ice action, versus just running it back and forth between the goalies. The Blackhawks need more of this creativity, as much of it was restricted to the second line over the past two seasons.

Question 2: I know goaltenders rarely get selected in the early stages of the NHL draft, but I really think the Blackhawks need to take a good, long look at possible options at the position in the opening two rounds.

Scott Darling is out the door, and while Corey Crawford can certainly hold his own for the time being, he’s also 32 years old. Even if Darling had stuck around, he’s already 28 himself. No spring chicken in the NHL.

The Blackhawks’ prospect pool for goaltenders is disappointing, at best. Jeff Glass, Mac Carruth, Lars Johansson and Wouter Peeters (the latter of whom isn’t under contract with Chicago) have little to no NHL experience among them, and none are guys who you’d be comfortable throwing into an NHL net repeatedly next season — and maybe not for a couple seasons after that.

Next: Blackhawks' 2017 Offseason Calendar

So in my mind, the Blackhawks need to go find someone who can seriously push the competition in the Blackhawks’ goaltenders pool. It could be extremely dangerous to use an early-round pick on a goaltender, as it generally takes them longer to develop to NHL-ready athletes, and they just may not pan out. But I think it’s worth the risk now for Chicago.

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