Chicago Blackhawks’ Stan Bowman Offers Little In Latest Press Event

Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman held court Thursday, for the first time since April, and he really didn’t have much of substance to offer the media or Blackhawks fans

Stan Bowman teleconference recap: "We'll see."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) June 21, 2018

It’s a Joel Quenneville joke, yes, but it’s pretty much accurate for what Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman offered at his latest press event Thursday.

The conference call allowed reporters to ask Bowman about a variety of topics — Corey Crawford’s health, Marian Hossa’s contract, the upcoming NHL draft and possible trades. Bowman skirted pretty much all of it without actually saying “no comment.”

Here’s a tweet-by-tweet recap of Bowman’s presser, courtesy the timeline of Chicago Sun-Times beat man Mark Lazerus.

Stan Bowman on draft-day dealing: "Last year came together pretty quickly. We’re not close to doing a deal right [now]. I’ve learned to never try to predict the future, so I can’t say for sure that we’re going to be making significant moves."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) June 21, 2018

Stan Bowman: "It’s difficult to predict the magnitude of changes going forward. All I can say is it’s our job to try to improve the team in the short term and keep in mind the long term, as well."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) June 21, 2018

Stan Bowman on Corey Crawford: "I don't really have an update. ... We expect Corey to be back. We don't have any reason to think that's not going to happen."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) June 21, 2018

Bowman: "Nothing has changed. We expect him to be back and ready to go in training camp."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) June 21, 2018

Stan Bowman on trying to unload Marian Hossa's contract: "We’re looking at our options on that front. If you’re going to make a trade of that sort, you have to find a willing party. So there’s nothing to report on that front."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) June 21, 2018

Stan Bowman on the No. 2 goalie situation: "We’ll have some discussions to see if we can improve in that area. It’s too early to tell if we can. "
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) June 21, 2018

Stan Bowman on adding defensemen in free agency: "There’s a ripple effect when you commit money for multiple years. It’s not a simple equation, but our job is to look into those situations and try to improve our team."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) June 21, 2018

Stan Bowman on the secrecy surrounding Corey Crawford: "There’s no gag order. We handle Corey’s situation as we've handled every other player. We never go into specifics on injuries."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) June 21, 2018

Stan Bowman on No. 8 pick: "There’s a number of top players available and we know we’re going to get one of them because there’s more than eight guys we like."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) June 21, 2018

Stan Bowman said Blackhawks are open to moving up from No. 8, but said there's not a lot of interest in the top seven teams moving down.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) June 21, 2018

I asked Bowman whether Slava Voynov is a possibility or a nonstarter for the Blackhawks: "We can’t talk about players at this point. I’m not going to speculate on anybody, whether it’s Voynov or any other free agent."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) June 21, 2018

What does it all mean?

Though Bowman didn’t have much of substance to say, there were some interesting tidbits in here.

First of all, Bowman vaguely said Crow is expected to be back, which would imply he’ll be active for training camp. That’s not explicitly clear, but that is what he’s hinting at.

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The Blackhawks typically are mysterious with their injuries, but Crow’s has been something else entirely. It’s be publicly announced as a number of issues, and then everyone who could have knowledge of the situation just stopped talking about it.

Is he still dealing with vertigo or some other head issue? Is it getting better or worse? Is that not even really the problem, and is he dealing with something else entirely? Bowman did not care to elaborate, but let’s hope Crow is indeed active and healthy for the 2018 training camp.

The tweet of this group that most interested me beyond the Crow stuff was about the Blackhawks’ No. 8 overall draft pick, which they can use Friday. Bowman said there was not a lot of interest among the top seven teams in moving down.

That means the Blackhawks have had discussions about actually moving up in the draft, which is very interesting. At the moment, it doesn’t sound like those have gone anywhere, but trading for something like a top-five pick would certainly shake up the Blackhawks.

Not only would they get a talent who could, theoretically, help the NHL product right away, they’d also likely trade some personnel assets to move up. That could mean Hossa’s contract, or it could mean someone like Artem Anisimov or, in a crazy world, Brent Seabrook.

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That’s all speculation … because Bowman said nothing other than phrases that made for more speculation. We’ll get a more clear picture of the Blackhawks’ immediate future come Friday, when the NHL draft begins in Dallas.

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