What the Blackhawks’ Lineup Could Look Like In 2019-20

The Blackhawks roster is currently under construction and there will be a lot of new faces. Hopefully, this yields better results in 2019-20.

The Blackhawks used their 3rd overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft to select center, Kirby Dach. Stan Bowman has said that Dach will be given every opportunity to make the 2019-20 NHL roster.

If he does crack the NHL roster, this bolsters the team’s roster depth and gives Jeremy Colliton much more flexibility in line combinations.

Recently, Bowman has also acquired some much needed defensive help in Olli Maatta and Calvin de Haan.

Maatta and de Haan will be instant upgrades as they both have a defense-first mindset. The Blackhawks were the 2nd worst defense in the league last season, only behind the Ottawa Senators.

This offseason has been extremely exciting so far and there’s likely more moves in the works. The Blackhawks have been linked to a few big name free agents such as Joe Pavelski, Anders Lee, Corey Perry, and more.

Potential Blackhawks Lines in 2019-20

Now here’s the fun part — the offseason speculation. Who will make the Blackhawks’ NHL roster in 2019-20, and where will they play? Will the Blackhawks make more trades, or snag another player via free agency?

The newest acquisitions haven’t been designated roles yet, so let’s take a look at where these new pieces could potentially fit into the puzzle.

Option 1: Kirby Dach (No Major UFA signings)

2019-20 Blackhawks roster with Kirby Dach and trading Artem Anisimov to the Ottawa Senators for their 2020 3rd round pick. This is the most realistic and simple option.

If there are no major free agent signings, or additional moves, this is the lineup that you can expect to see.

Option 2: Kirby Dach, sign Joe Pavelski

This is what the team would look like if Kirby Dach made the roster, and they somehow persuaded Joe Pavelski to come to Chicago.

To free up cap space for Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome’s upcoming contract extensions, I had to move a few players and let some become free agents.

I traded Anisimov to the Blue Jackets for a 4th round pick, in an attempt to fill the void of Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel. I also traded Connor Murphy to the Senators for a 3rd round pick, to help improve the league’s worst defense.

In addition, I would trade Dylan Sikura for a draft pick/prospect and Brendan Perlini fetched a 3rd round pick via offer sheet. Brandon Saad could also potentially be traded in the right scenario.

Option 3: Kirby Dach, sign Anders Lee

My third theoretical scenario is for Kirby Dach to make the NHL roster and the Blackhawks to sign Anders Lee. For the sake of consistency, I repeated the same trades and moves as in Option 2; Anisimov, Murphy, Sikura, and Perlini are gone.

Free agency hasn’t officially started yet (July 1st), but the Blackhawks could end up being very active. Signing Joe Pavelski or Anders Lee would instantly improve the team’s depth and get them one step closer to the playoffs.

Also, don’t count out more trades in the near future. Things are about to get extremely interesting, Blackhawks fans! Stay tuned!

Other UFAs to Watch:

• Ryan Dzingel
• Gustav Nyquist
• Mats Zuccarello
• Corey Perry
• Jason Spezza
• Valtteri Filppula
• Michael Ferland