Blackhawks: Duncan Keith Plays Another Year At A High Level

Duncan Keith finished up his 15th-season with the Chicago Blackhawks this past year. It seems like he still has a lot of hockey left in the tank.

At 37-years-old, Duncan Keith still has a lot of hockey left in the tank. Keith was the best defensive player for the Chicago Blackhawks again this past season, and he showed up big during the playoffs. Age is yet to fully catch up with Keith, as he had another solid season.

Keith played most of the year, including the playoffs, partnered up with Adam Boqvist on the first defensive pairing. The two fed off of each other nicely, with Keith helping the young Boqvist navigate against elite competition in his first season.

Keith played a mentor role for Boqvist, along with maintaining a high level of play.

In 61-games, Keith had 27-points (3G, 24A). He stayed out of the penalty box for most of the season, racking up 18-minutes, which is way fewer minutes than his 70 in 2018-19. He averaged 24:23 minutes per game, up over a minute than his minutes in 2018-19.

In the 9-games he missed, the Blackhawks went 3-5-1. That shows just how important he is on the blue line, even at 37.

During the season, we got to see Keith score his 100th-goal, along with his 500th-assist, 600th-point and 1,100th-game with Chicago. Those are some great achievements for the player who has been the backbone of this team during their Stanley Cup runs.

During the playoffs, Keith had 5-points in 9-games. Even though he had a -7 plus/minus, he showed that he still can log playoff minutes. He switched up his defensive pairing a few times, as Boqvist was benched during the playoffs.

Keith was very reliable this season. No one logs more hard minutes than him, even at his age. Age hasn’t caught up to Keith yet, and I’m hoping it won’t for another few seasons.

I give Keith’s 2019-20 NHL season an “A rating”, as the team struggled without him, and he played some great hockey down the stretch. I’m excited to see what he can do in 2020-21. He finally touched playoff ice again, let’s see if he can help the Hawks get back there.