Chicago Blackhawks: 3 Keys to success for Brent Seabrook

Key 1: Accept that his play has fallen in quality

Seabrook is no longer a player that a team will build around. He hasn’t been this caliber of player for a while now, but it hasn’t felt as if he or the team were treating him that way. The impression has been, at least to me, that the drop in play was an anomaly and he’d right the ship during the off-season. Train a little harder, watch some more video, whatever. Then that next season came around, and Seabrook still looked off.

Now he’s 35, coming off what was probably the worst season of his career, and to top it off he had three major surgeries. Whatever Seabrook thinks he’s going to accomplish on the ice has to start with a hard look in the mirror, and to admit that he’s not the player he was. It would be awful to see Seabrook flounder around the next few years because he can’t be honest about the fact that his play has dropped in quality.

His next steps will all stem from how he’s going to approach the next season mentally. If he’s ready to accept that his abilities aren’t what they once were, then he’s off to the right start. If he doesn’t though…well, it might be a controversial start to the season. The press box is going to be a very real possibility for him this year. Other players have likely overtaken him on the depth chart. This is the natural order of things, but Seabrook needs to admit this to himself.

Key 2: Continue being a leader

Despite never really getting into the spotlight, Seabrook has a reputation as a leader. For the remainder of his career, and starting in 2020-2021, he needs to prioritize this role. Even if he’s not playing every night, or getting a lot of ice time when he does suit up, he needs to help the rest of the team stay focused and play as a cohesive group.

If he’s the leader he’s alleged to be, then this shouldn’t be a problem. It’ll be just a part of who he is, and he’ll be ready to do it. The trick is to make sure that no matter what, he’s prepared to be a prominent voice.

This might mean that Seabrook’s influence is shifted away from the games he does participate in and towards practices and any off-ice initiatives. This could mean PR opportunities for the team, workouts with younger players, reviewing video with teammates, or anything that might be able to take advantage of the experience and respect he’s accrued for himself over the years.

Seabrook’s longevity is an asset if he can use this to the team’s advantage. He was around when the team was bad. Like, really bad. As a member of the Blackhawks, he’s experienced the lowest of lows to the highest of highs and was an Olympian for Team Canada as well. In this respect, he’s an extremely accomplished asset to the team, and one that can still be leveraged, regardless of how much he actually plays.

Key 3: Consider a different role

If Seabrook starts the season off as the 6th or even 7th defenseman, maybe it’s time to consider a new role for him within the organization. And I’m not saying that just because having a guy costing the team almost $7,000,000 in a cap hit is a bad look.

It is, but that’s not the only reason.  Considering the team is involved in a youth movement, it would be nice to let someone as well-regarded and accomplished, as Seabrook spend more time guiding younger players.

Living with him didn’t do any damage to Kirby Dach. Before Henri Jokiharju was traded, he was playing alongside Seabrook. If the organization didn’t have the utmost faith in him, they wouldn’t keep sending younger players his way. Taking this into consideration, would Seabrook be ready to step into a different sort of role? If so, what would that look like?

Personally, I think it would be interesting if Seabrook started drifting towards coaching. Maybe it’s a bit extreme considering he’s still technically a roster player. Would he consider taking up a sort of player/coach role in Rockford?

It’s drastic, but Seabrook’s a player, and he wants to play. He isn’t going to want to sit in the press box night after night, but he’s not a desirable player for other teams. Chicago would essentially have to pay another team to take him on. No one is going to try and acquire Seabrook unless they want his contract to keep their team at the cap minimum.

Here’s the rub, Seabrook is under contract to play hockey, not coach. If he can still play at the NHL level, then this year is pretty much it for him. You can’t write several progressively bad seasons off as anomalies.

If his untreated injuries were causing his issues, then in theory he should be able to bounce back this year, but if that doesn’t happen then it’s time to start considering the “R” word, retirement. This is probably one of the most important seasons of Seabrook’s career because even though he’s still under contract for years to come, it will likely be his last chance to show that he’s still an NHL regular.