Chicago Blackhawks’ Retooling Now Points to Defense

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The Chicago Blackhawks’ additions of Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini may have caused a ripple in the force Tuesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights. The two young high-ceiling talents added offensive depth in this retooling, but the real issue remains with the defense.

After a strong third period against the Florida Panthers, the Chicago Blackhawks were looking to build on that effort. But the insertion of Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini into the line up against the Vegas Golden Knights may have disrupted that budding momentum. The team will have to adjust to new lines once again.

What is more possible, though, is that the festering problems within the team defense was exposed once again.

First and foremost

In the opening minutes, Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland fired a pass into the neutral zone which center Ryan Carpenter touched over to winger Tomas Nosek. Nosek blew past a flat-footed Duncan Keith at the blue line to drive into the offensive zone.

He then made a perfect cross-ice pass to high-flying Daniel Carr for a quick tap in. Keith was unable to seal off the entry into the zone nor turn and pursue quickly enough to recover against a marginal player in Nosek. As a result, the 27-year-old Carr blew past Gustav Forsling for the tap in. From eliteprospects.com, here is the report on Carr.

“An energy forward who plays a feisty and passionate game. Daniel Carr is a small player, who plays bigger than his size, as he battles hard along the boards and in front of the net and is not afraid to throw his body around. Only an average skater, who lacks quickness and speed. Daniel Carr is a hard worker and the type of player who scores the dirty goals.” (by Rafik Soliman, April 2016)

Carr looked pretty quick on his goal, but quickness is all relative.

Gustav Forsling came over to bail out Keith who got beaten, but left Carr alone in the slot. The fleet Alexandre Fortin was unable to consequentially bail out Forsling.

Bad fundamentals from the top pair right here:

It’s good until it’s not

At 5:44 of the first period, Blackhawks forward Dominik Kahun scored what appeared to be a game tying goal. But after a challenge by Vegas coach Gerard Gallant, the play was ruled offside and the goal was disallowed.

This was the turning point in the game.

The mentally fragile Chicago Blackhawks seemed to have the wind taken from their sails and the downward spiral began.

CHICAGO, IL – NOVEMBER 27: Brayden McNabb #3 of the Vegas Golden Knights loses his footing against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on November 27, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Chase Agnello-Dean/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Primary assist for Crawford

As momentum shifted toward the Knights, the ‘Hawks team defense struggled more and more. At 12:14, Corey Crawford decided to take matters into his own hands and attempted to clear his zone, rather than allow the beleaguered Brendan Manning to handle the puck.

The result was a perfect pass right to Alex Tuch for a quick snipe.

Three strikes and you’re out, or maybe not

Late in the first period, a Chicago Blackhawks turnover in the Golden Knights’ zone led to a rush the other way. As luck would have it, a deflected pass from Max Pacioretty found a wide open Cody Eakin in the slot for a waltz-in goal.

After this third goal, the buzz around the United Center was that Crawford would be pulled. But that didn’t happen.

That said, even if Crawford wasn’t pulled, the team had already pulled out.

Take a look at the tide chart from Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) which clearly shows the ‘Hawks’ losing energy after the disallowed goal. They attempted one more surge, but were done for the night after the Eakin goal.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?

The Chicago Blackhawks defensive struggles started two seasons ago and still exist today. After all, we’ve written numerous articles here at BlackhawkUp about this.

It’s hard to admit, but Duncan Keith is no longer a no. 1 defenseman. The iron-man minutes he’s logged over the years have caught up with him. His ability to turn and chase is nowhere near what it was in 2015, the year of the last Stanley Cup win.

I’ve been an apologist for him in recent past, owing his struggles to a lack of decent partners. That said, it’s become unfortunately clear that he’s lost a step and the egregious turnovers are the result of age and fatigue.

Additionally, we’ve repeatedly discussed Brent Seabrook and his struggles with aging. He and Keith are still good defenders, just not elite anymore. What doesn’t kill you simply wears you down in their case.

So where do the next elite defenders come from?

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – NOVEMBER 27: Alex DeBrincat #12 of the Chicago Blackhawks looks to pass against the Vegas Golden Knights at the United Center on November 27, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

No time like the present

In my recent article, I highlighted the fact that the Chicago Blackhawks will need their young talent to grow up quickly. To repeat, this is the result of having to rely upon cheaper young talent to support the core due to salary cap restraints.

But that core is on the wrong side of age 30, and just can’t “flip the switch” to take over games as they’ve done in the past.

Scott Powers from The Athletic did a mini rundown of how many high draft pick players have not made it past their entry level contracts to remain with the Blackhawks. Take a look:

“Dylan Olsen (first round, 2009), Stephen Johns (second round, 2010), Phillip Danault (first round, 2011), Adam Clendening (second round, 2011), Brandon Saad (second round, 2011), Teuvo Teravainen (first round, 2012), Hartman (first round, 2013) and Schmaltz (first round, 2014) were all traded by the Blackhawks while in their first contracts.”

To maximize the peak years of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, the roster for the past two seasons and the next three should be loaded up with great support players to contend for more Stanley Cup championships.

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Bowman needs to understand that the clock is ticking with these two elite cornerstone players. Once they’re in decline, he can throw in the towel.

Henri Jokiharju has surprised us with his quick transition to the NHL and Duncan Keith has played better with him than with Gustav Forsling.

However, Jokiharju is young and still prone to making occasional rookie mistakes. What Keith needs is a legitimate number 1 or solid number 2 defenseman to play with.

Furthermore, the team needs shot blockers to suppress the absolute onslaught of shots that Corey Crawford and Cam Ward have faced.

Unfortunately, Stan Bowman never pulled off the right deal this past summer to accomplish this. Free agent signing Brendan Manning could not beat out Radko Gudas for a spot on the Flyers defense, and that says a lot.

The elite draft picks Adam Boqvist, Nicolas Beaudin, and Ian Mitchell aren’t going to show up here this season to help out the defense either. Connor Murphy is nearing a return to the line up, but how he will fit in is anyone’s guess.

CHICAGO, IL – NOVEMBER 27: Chicago Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton looks on in third period action during a NHL game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Vegas Golden Knights on November 27, 2018 at the United Center, in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

What to do, what to do

So what can Stan Bowman do to salvage this season?

Should he even try?

Duncan Keith is signed through 2023 with a cap hit of $5,538,462. This is a great deal for a solid number-2/second-pair defenseman. This makes him the most trade-able player on the team. On the other hand, Brent Seabrook is signed through 2024 at a whopping $6,875,000 per year. He and his contract are not marketable without the ‘Hawks retaining a large portion of his salary.

Also, don’t forget about the infamous no movement clauses for both players.

Another intriguing trade bait could be Artem Anisimov. As BlackhawkUp’s Sam Boland wrote in his article, Anisimov is sliding down the center depth chart with the acquisition of Strome and the ascendance of David Kampf. Furthermore, Anisimov has a modified no-trade clause in which he can name 10 teams he can be traded to.

The truth hurts

After Thursday night’s 6-5 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, coach Jeremy Colliton was visibly perturbed by his team’s lack of urgency and inability to play cohesively. Once again, mental lapses on defense put his team into a hole they could never climb out of, despite a late third period surge.

And so, the truth will out. The Chicago Blackhawks travel will head south to take on the Central Division’s first place Nashville Predators on Saturday night. From Colliton’s terse responses, you can predict that no one will be held sacred and that smart, urgency-laden play will be expected.

His discussions with Stan Bowman regarding player evaluations will not include any bias toward the players. If anything, Colliton may be biased toward IceHogs players in Rockford because of his familiarity with them.

The pit and the pendulum

During the stretch of games leading into the Christmas break, the Chicago Blackhawks will be facing off against some fierce competition. Our friend @StacyAlbano posed a good question last week about whether the ‘Hawks can still be a playoff team:

@SteveYatsushiro @_DaveMelton @Diesal3426 @SamuelRBoland Thinking about what Pat & Edzo said in pregame yesterday, they said if the Hawks can finish around the .500 mark by the Christmas break, they might have a chance at a wild card spot. Do you believe it or forget about it?
— Stacy Albano - Doing what Adam Page might be doing (@StacyAlbano) November 22, 2018

The pendulum swings both ways.

Next. Could Artem Anisimov Be The Next Blackhawk Traded?. dark

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So Blackhawks fans, should Stan Bowman try to salvage this season with some more trades, or should he simply concentrate on rebuilding this team? Bowman has certainly fouled up the original plan to keep rejuvenating the core, but managed to somewhat veer back on track with the Schmaltz trade.

Is it too late to recover during the Toews-Kane Era, or is it time to start all over? I’ll sit down and listen for the answers.

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