Chicago Blackhawks: 3 keys to success for Calvin de Haan

Regardless of how it played out, last season was all over the map for the Blackhawks’ defensemen Calvin de Haan.

He found himself on a new team, was injured, apparently for the season, and then managed to come back for the post-season. It was a pretty bizarre series of events, but Calvin de Haan handled it extremely well.

After being acquired by the Chicago Blackhawks, de Haan seemed to have found a new home after being cut loose by Carolina. This was great news for Chicago that desperately needed defensive upgrades, but unfortunately for de Haan he ended up with what appeared to be a season-ending injury. Who knew there would be hockey over the summer? In the brief appearance he had, de Haan did the best he could.

His stats aren’t great relative to his season last year with Carolina, but that probably reflects the different situations each team is currently in. Just from watching the games, it was fairly obvious that de Haan was playing very well when healthy, and it didn’t really matter who he was paired with.

The possession metrics don’t look fantastic though.

What these numbers also show though is that there is room for improvement, not just for the team, but for de Haan as well. In order to build on last season with Chicago, what does de Haan need to do to improve or 2020-2021?

Key 1: Stay healthy

Sadly, de Haan has had to have a couple of major surgeries on the same shoulder, something he’d like to put behind him as reported by Ben Pope at the Sun-Times back in July. Easier said than done though, right? Generally speaking, you can’t really do much about getting hurt.

In de Haan’s case though, I’d expect he’s having regular conversations with Chicago’s medical staff. According to the article by Pope, this new surgery should solve de Haan’s problem. However, in his case, it would be wise of the defenseman to make any preparations he can to ensure he’s able to play without re-injuring the same shoulder, again.

Injuries are hard to manage, especially is a full-contact sport like hockey where the players are flying all over the place at high speed. Accidents happen, and it’s hard to account for all the ways someone might end a game, or season banged up.  Maybe different equipment could help? Maybe he could get fitted for a special kind of brace, or pad to protect himself. Pilates?

Whatever the solution is, he’s got to find a way to stay on the ice. More importantly, for his own sake, de Haan needs to try and not end up doing massive damage to the same shoulder. He’s a good player when healthy, and can be a big part of the Blackhawks this year. It would be a shame to see his career cut short by injuries, but de Haan might very well find himself in that situation. Additionally, Chicago is going to need him to keep up last year’s effort, and staying healthy is key to de Haan being a contributor.

Key 2: Keep up last year’s effort

One of Chicago’s biggest problems in 2019-2020 was consistency from one game to the next. Even the team’s best players seemed to have nights that made you scratch your head, and then other nights where they were worldbeaters. Calvin de Haan was certainly no exception. At the beginning of the year, he seemed out of sorts. The talent was there, but the on-ice play looked to be a bit off.

As the season wore on, de Haan established himself as one of the team’s top defenseman, at least as far as the eye test is concerned. If you look at the metrics posted earlier in this article, he’s not exactly setting records. Again, his numbers this year aren’t a complete season, and Chicago isn’t a great team. Those factors certainly impacted his final stats.

Despite all that though, de Haan looked like the defenseman the team wanted him to be when they brought him on board. He played a steady defensive game and made play after play in his own end. This is the type of player Chicago hasn’t had in recent years, a competent defense-first defenseman. Most of the time, it feels like people are talking about the need to have a “puck-moving defenseman”, and especially one that can make a mark on the score sheet. The way de Haan plays is completely opposite to what people expect from Adam Boqvist, and that’s a good thing. No matter how talented they are, you can’t only have defensemen joining the rush.

After seeing him play for Chicago this year, de Haan has a significant role to play for the team. He’s a decent passer, but he seems to better at stifling opposing teams as they make their way into Chicago’s end. If he can stay healthy, then Chicago will need him to keep this strong defensive play going.