Chicago Blackhawks Coach Jeremy Colliton Trying Drastically New Lineup

Chicago Blackhawks new coach Jeremy Colliton is slowly making changes to the team as he becomes more comfortable. The most recent one we’ve seen is a major lineup shift ahead of tonight’s game. Here’s a look into it.

At the Chicago Blackhawks morning skate ahead of Monday night’s road matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes, coach Jeremy Colliton made some major changes to the Blackhawks lineup. Here’s what he went with this morning and, presumably, what we’ll see during tonight’s game.

Before you see them, it’s worth noting that Marcus Kruger is out with a leg injury and that Brandon Saad did not participate in the morning skate and will be a game time decision. Regardless, here’s what the ‘Hawks ran in practice today as well as an in-depth look into all off them.

Offensively

1. Schmaltz-Toews-Kane
2. Fortin-Anisimov-Hayden
3. DeBrincat-Kampf-Kahun
4. Kunitz-Johnson-Martinsen

Defensively

1. Keith-Seabrook
2. Gustafsson-Jokiharju
3. Davidson-Rutta

Line 1: Schmaltz-Toews-Kane

First and foremost, I am fully in support of Patrick Kane and Nick Schmaltz playing on the same line. That said, Schmaltz benefits when he plays in a bottom-six role because he needs to be used as a first scoring option on that line. Too often does he defer to other players in scoring situations, so ultimately those minutes help him.

More from Blackhawk Up

• Blackhawks: Grading Connor Murphy and a position comparison
• Blackhawks: Shuffling the lines to try and spark offense at 5 on 5
• These Lineup Changes could Solve the Blackhawks’ Scoring Problem
• Blackhawks: List Of Things To Be Thankful For This Thanksgiving
• The perfect holiday gifts for the Chicago Blackhawks fan

However, if this team wants to be successful, they need Schmaltz skating with Kane in top-six minutes. Though he’s your “no. 1 center of the future,” I’m still comfortable with him skating on a wing occasionally so long as the opposite wing belongs to Patrick Kane.

DeBrincat-Toews-Kahun hasn’t had much success since their red hot start to the season, so it makes sense that Colliton is shaking up his first line.

That said, Toews has a history of benefiting from playing next to true snipers (see Patrick Sharp for example). As a result, this helps to explain why Alex DeBrincat and Jonathan Toews have had success to start the year. If DeBrincat were swapped with Schmaltz in this situation, I wouldn’t necessarily hate it.

What bothers me the most, though, is that Jonathan Toews is centering this line next to Patrick Kane. Mark Lazerus of The Athletic quickly summarizes the statistics behind how the team fares with Kane/Toews together versus apart, saying:

“In the past five-plus seasons, Kane and Toews have played about 1,113 minutes of 5-on-5 time together (per Natural Stat Trick). The Blackhawks have been outscored 60-56 in those minutes. When Toews is without Kane during those same seasons, his line has outscored opponents 211-150. When Kane is without Toews, his line has outscored opponents 246-193.”

The numbers surely favor Kane and Toews playing apart as they seem to be more effective when playing their own games. Regardless, I like them apart this season especially for another reason.

Though his production has slowed a bit since the first six games, Jonathan Toews is having a significantly better year this year. The top line is one that opposing teams actually have to worry about defensively. Likewise, Kane’s line will always be dangerous no matter who is skating with him.

If they’re together, opposing teams only have one line to chose to defend. If they’re separated, though, not only is their lineup more balanced but coaches must pick and choose who to send their top defensive units out against which undoubtedly plays into the ‘Hawks’ favor.

Line 2: Fortin-Anisimov-Hayden

This line has two people who can occupy real estate in front of opposing team’s nets and one player who’s fresh out of the AHL trying to learn the ropes at the NHL level.

Alexandre Fortin is quick and has shown great promise to start the season, but is he really who should be leading the charge offensively on your second line? Artem Anisimov is at his best playing with Kane and John Hayden certainly doesn’t bring a tremendous amount of offensive talent to this line.

It’s worth noting that should Saad play tonight it’s a fair assumption that he will be replacing Hayden on this line.

This move would unquestionably raise the ceiling for this second line. Saad and Fortin are both players who play solid north-south style games. Additionally, Anisimov and Saad are two solid defensive forwards so there’s a strong potential for odd-man rushes to be generated because of the defensive talent and speed present on this line.

Issue is, someone needs to be able to put the puck in the net at the end of the opportunity.

Saad and Fortin alike have struggled with that this year, however Saad has shown flashes of his ability to score recently. If Saad were to slot into this line, he’d presumably be their no. 1 option offensively. A nod like that from his new coach could be the confidence booster he needs to get going again.

It’s a bit of a double edged sword with Kane moved to the first line as there’s more pressure on this group to produce offensively in his absence. This move forces Saad to step up, but we will see if he’s actually up to the task.

The offensive approach has the potential to become even more top-heavy should this line not succeed in Kane’s absence. Time, of course, will tell.

Defensive Pairings

Incase you’ve forgotten, they are as follows:

1. Keith-Seabrook
2. Gustafsson-Jokiharju
3. Davidson-Rutta

This season is the first time Duncan Keith has had a consistently good first pairing partner with him since Brent Seabrook was last a legitimate top pairing defensemen.

Unfortunately, Seabs is no longer capable of playing that many minutes effectively. Henri Jokiharju, on the other hand, can handle those minutes and do so while playing very solid on both sides of the ice. The fact that Jokiharju and Seabrook are switched is ridiculous to me.

While this is primarily because of Seabrook’s current ability, we must remember that Jokiharju is still a rookie who makes mistakes.

Likewise, Erik Gustafsson has proven lately that, although he’s able to be a solid no. 3 defensemen for this team, he’s still going to commit his fair share of bad turnovers in his own end.

So, if someone can explain to me how two inexperienced, occasionally turnover prone defensemen playing together in a second pairing role is a good idea, I’d be very appreciative.

I like Brandon Davidson over Brandon Manning, but the third pairing still gives me shivers. As always, if this team wants to be successful they are going to need to have a better defensive group than this.

Keith and Jokiharju are a somewhat passable one and two, but the bottom-four need help and quickly.

Want your voice heard? Join the Blackhawk Up team!

Write for us!

These new lines and pairings are some of the biggest changes to date in the very young Jeremy Colliton era. Monday against the Carolina Hurricanes is their first chance, and his, to prove that these aren’t all as crazy as they appear to be.