This is a different Blackhawks’ team compared to even a few years ago

Patrick Kane is the second oldest player on this team. Jonathan Toews turned 33, and so many other things have changed about the Chicago Blackhawks. As the old guard passes the torch, and hopefully the Cup in a year or two, over to the new guard, let’s take a look at how different this team is.

On the active roster, the Blackhawks have seven Stanley Cup rings as experience. That might seem like a lot but six are held by just two players with Kane and Keith while Brett Connolly has one with the Washington Capitals.

16 members of the Chicago Blackhawks were not in the NHL the last time the Hawks won their 2015 Stanley Cup. Ten of the Blackhawks were not drafted yet the last time Chicago won. The numbers get even weirder when looking at a few key players.

Patrick Sharp is a leader and a Blackhawk that almost every fan can name. Only seven of the Blackhawks’ active roster ever played with Patrick Sharp. That list includes Kane, Keith, DeBrincat, Strome, Murphy, Kampf, and Hinostroza. While only three ever played with Hall-of-Famer Marian Hossa.

Just go take a look at the roster from 2016-17 and you can see how different this team is compared to then. There have been a number of Blackhawks that have retired from the team in recent years.

Here are some notable Chicago Blackhawks that have retired in recent years:

Marian Hossa
Patrick Sharp
Brent Seabrook
Andrew Shaw
Corey Crawford

This team is so different than what it used to be. The rivalries that once saw David Backes and Jonathan Toews square off are now gone until these new players can create new “friendships”.

Even the coaching staff is young. Sheldon Brookbank once played with Kane and Keith when he was a member of the team back in 2012-2014. The weirdest thing in the world was finding out that Brookbank was 33 when he was on the Hawks. I guess I just assumed that he was a younger guy trying to make it into the league.

This team is young, and they have the potential to be pretty exciting for years to come. There are a lot of reasons to watch the team and the young players are at the top of the list. Chicago is in a similar position to where they were in 2008 or 2009. They are young and just need to change a few things systematically and with some more leadership before they will be great again.