Chicago Blackhawks: 3 Keys to success for Brent Seabrook

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.