The Dylan Sikura Experiment Is Over With The Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks ended their relationship with Dylan Sikura, another in a long list of young players not making the jump to the NHL with the team.

Stan Bowman thought Dylan Sikura was going to jump to the NHL someday. He was convinced that Sikura was going to be a top-line forward with the Blackhawks eventually, and yet Sikura never proved he was worth that much stock within the team.

Dylan Sikura played 47 games with the Blackhawks throughout three seasons with the team. During that time, he scored one goal and had 13 assists with the team. Probably his most impressive run with the team was when he played 33 games with the ‘Hawks during the 2018-19 season and failed to register his first NHL goal throughout the entire run.

Not scoring a goal would not have been an issue if he was not playing most of his time with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. That was just another example of Stan Bowman trying to get the players he brought in to look better.

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Similarly to seeing Alexander Nylander in the top six, Sikura playing on the top line was another example of bad decisions the team has made. I am all for seeing if playing with a top guy like Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane can improve someone’s game, but after a guy like Sikura continues to struggle, they need to be moved down.

While Dylan Sikura is a lot younger than Brandon Pirri, Pirri is a player that the team knows what they will get from him right away. Sikura might jump to the NHL someday and start producing offensively, but Pirri is already at that level. Pirri can make the Blackhawks bottom-six better and does not need to rely on his linemates to elevate his game.

Sikura is yet another player that failed to make the jump to the NHL with the Blackhawks. At some point, Bowman will have to address the issue the team has had when it comes to developing their players in Rockford. Yes, our farm system has been depleted for a long time, but very few young players have found their way into the league outside of the team’s first-round picks like Kirby Dach.

While maybe the Blackhawks could have gotten a fourth-round draft pick for Sikura instead of Pirri, that would not have added anything to the Blackhawks depth for next season. Hopefully, Sikura finds a way to jump back to the NHL sooner rather than later. We all wish him nothing but the best!