Chicago Blackhawks: Patrick Kane with Alex Nylander is not the answer

The Chicago Blackhawks have opted to play Alex Nylander with Patrick Kane in the last few games. After last night’s effort, I do not want to see that anymore.

I know the Chicago Blackhawks are not happy with the play of Alex Nylander this season. He has been getting less and less ice time as the season has gone on, and I think everyone kind of knows Stan Bowman dropped the ball on that trade.

With that being said I do not see how playing Nylander with Patrick Kane is going to help this team. I mean sure, if anyone is going to light a fire under Nylander and tap into his offensive game it would be Kane. That is not what is happening on the ice, instead, we are seeing Nylander wasting some of Kane’s shifts.

Kane played excellent last night, even though he did not tally a goal. You could see his handprints all over the offensive zone, and he was doing his best to help get this team a victory. Watching Kane get into the offensive zone easily, and try to hold out for a great pass to someone on his line helped open my eyes to one thing.

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I do not think that having Nylander turn the puck over, or fumble a pass from Kane is going to help either party. Instead of trying to hide the mistake Stan Bowman made by bringing Nylander to Chicago, let’s show how bad that was and put Nylander on the fourth line or just scratch him.

That still leaves Kane without a winger on his opposite side. I was thinking about putting Toews and Kane back together, but Kubalik and Saad have been great. I think the Blackhawks need to look long-term when they are picking Patrick Kane’s linemates.

I know that Alex DeBrincat has struggled, and Dylan Strome has not played a lot of center since returning from his injury earlier this season. I still would rather have Kane play with those two guys than have him out there with Ryan Carpenter and Alex Nylander.

I bet we are going to be seeing that line a lot next season, why not get the ball rolling now? DeBrincat is going to be back better than ever next year, and with Kane on his opposite side, there is no telling how many points those two can rack up. Hopefully, the team will have a lot of points too!