Chicago Blackhawks: Five reasons for optimism after three bad games

2. Calvin de Haan has been a force on the blue line

Calvin de Haan has the best Corsi percentage and Fenwick percentage through the first three games of the season. Obviously, the stats are not everything when it comes to determining who the best players are on a team, but when you pair those numbers with how well de Haan has been with young players like Mitchell or Boqvist on his line, de Haan’s play has been a positive.

de Haan is averaging 20:16 minutes of ice time through the first three games of the season. Those numbers give him the third most ice time against all defensemen, and his four hits are a force for this team.

The Blackhawks need to see more out of Calvin de Haan if they are going to find their way back into the standings even a little bit. As of now, one area the Blackhawks can improve is with blocking shots.

Calvin de Haan currently has one blocked shot with the ‘Hawks this season, but that number can be higher. We have seen de Haan help lead teams in the past, particularly during the Hurricanes playoff run just a few seasons ago.

Hopefully, Chicago will have Calvin de Haan around for a lot of the season to lean on in situations. Especially considering so many of the team’s blue liners are under 25 years old.