Vinnie Hinostroza is back with the Blackhawks against Dallas

After being traded away a few years ago with the Marian Hossa contract, Vinnie Hinostroza is back with the Chicago Blackhawks following a trade a few days ago. Hinostroza is back with something to prove following a bad few months with the Florida Panthers.

Vinnie Hinostroza comes to the Hawks a different player than he once was. He is not the 23-year-old who once put up 25 points in 50 games in 2017-18, now he is 27 years old after celebrating his birthday just three days ago, and he is in need of a new contract at the end of the season.

The Hawks have brought in players like this before. When the team traded for Anthony Duclair he was someone I wanted the Hawks to re-sign in the offseason and yet they let him walk in free agency, I hope the team decides to give Hinostroza a contract this offseason, it should be relatively cheap and could be the right call for the Chicago native.

Hinostroza played in 140 games with the Arizona Coyotes over the course of the past three years and during that time he put up 21 goals and 61 points. He was not a top guy in Arizona but he was able to provide some depth scoring.

After reuniting with Joel Quenneville in Florida this season, Hinostroza has fallen off the map completely, and now he has something to prove with a lot left to offer.

Tonight’s game will be Vinnie Hinostroza’s first with the Chicago Blackhawks since being traded.

With Hinostroza going into the lineup, someone will need to sit out and tonight it will be Matthew Highmore. Nothing is going to be handed to anyone on the team and if Hinostroza wants to stay in the lineup he is going to have to play at a high level.

With Highmore out and Lucas Wallmark clearing waivers, the Hawkslineup is beginning to take shape for the ending of the season. We very well could see some trades in the coming days as the team gears up for the offseason.

"Where Could Vinnie Hinostroza Play for the Blackhawks?"

There are a lot of different lineup options we could see with Hinostroza on the team. Here is what DailyFaceOff.com shows for the forward pairings today:

DeBrincat – Dach – Kane

Kubalik – Kurashev – Hinostroza

Janmark – Suter – Strome

Hagel – Kampf – Carpenter

I think there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to the lineup but I personally would make things a little different. Kubalik and Hagel have great chemistry and splitting them up just does not make sense to me.

DeBrincat – Dach – Kane

Kubalik – Suter – Hagel

Hinostroza – Strome – Kurashev

Janmark – Kampf – Carpenter

Sure, if you want to switch Strome and Kurashev the team can, but I think the team can run with Strome at center for a little bit longer before needing to move him to the wing full time. Puck drop is at 7 tonight let’s go Hawks!