Blackhawks: Jeremy Colliton Is Safe For 2021, Amid Contract Rumors

The Chicago Blackhawks are rumored to keep Jeremy Colliton around after 2021 with there being contract rumors of him staying longer. The question is, does this help or hurt the Hawks?

Rumors of the Chicago Blackhawks re-signing Jeremy Colliton for the future is something that has leaked out during the past week. The rumors started last week and have been a talking point. This post is all hypothetical since there isn’t enough evidence to back up Colliton getting an extension.

If Colliton is truly getting an extension, even for another year or two past 2021, that has to mean the team still has faith in Stan Bowman. If Bowman has the option to keep Colliton around, the two could be in Chicago past the ending of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane‘s contracts expiring in 2023-24.

If those contracts are up and the Hawks haven’t made the playoffs, do the two stay? That could be looking too deep in the future, but Kane and Toews don’t have the rest of their career’s to sit and wait for another playoff chance, they two could go somewhere else and have another shot at winning their fourth Stanley Cup on different teams – as they’d have to take a pay cut somewhere else to stay together.

Colliton is safe this next season. If there are no playoffs for the Hawks, Colliton and Bowman should be on their way out. There needs to continued success for the pair to remain in Chicago after Bowman literally tore down this team and hasn’t found success since.

Getting rid of Robin Lehner was the last straw for anyone else who still supported Bowman. It seems like 99% of Hawks fans want Bowman gone, with a third of them wanting Colliton to go. It’s hard to pin the lack of success on Colliton, as he was thrown in a bad situation.

If Colliton is gone, Bowman has to be gone too. This was Bowman’s decision to fire Joel Quenneville and give Colliton the job. He has to take responsibility for this poor decision.

So yes, Colliton is safe next season. If Chicago makes the playoffs, he’ll be back for 2022. If Chicago makes the playoffs and wins a round or two, his extension could be 2-3 years, with there being room for error – again.

I just hope they don’t waste the rest of Kane and Toews’ contracts with the team. The way to keep them happy is to set them up for success to win. I believe in this team and their bright future; I just don’t know if Stan Bowman can keep the team’s ceiling high enough to compete for another Stanley Cup.