The Blackhawks Need Dylan Strome On Their Team

As the season comes to a close, I think it is important to remember just how important Dylan Strome should be to the future of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Dylan Strome played a little over 14 minutes last night. He registered an assist and had one shot on goal, but he was a 38.5% in the faceoff dot. The ‘Hawks got a really good center when they traded for Strome a few years ago, but now he seems to have fallen out of favor with the team.

Strome was a healthy scratch for a few games recently in order to play an extra defenseman, but if you ask me that was a mistake for the Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks need Dylan Strome to bounce back the same way they needed Alex DeBrincat to bounce back this season. Last year DeBrincat was not great and often found himself on the third and fourth line. He couldn’t stick in the lineup the same way Strome is struggling this year.

In my opinion, Jeremy Colliton does not have the best track record with this. Both DeBrincat and Strome struggled last year and Colliton did not know how to shake them out of that funk. So he just hid them on the fourth line for a bit. It would not be till a fresh season that DeBrincat rose up in the lineup and is back to being the dominant forward he is today.

More from Blackhawk Up

• Blackhawks: Grading Connor Murphy and a position comparison
• Blackhawks: Shuffling the lines to try and spark offense at 5 on 5
• These Lineup Changes could Solve the Blackhawks’ Scoring Problem
• Blackhawks: List Of Things To Be Thankful For This Thanksgiving
• The perfect holiday gifts for the Chicago Blackhawks fan

The Hawks took a chance on Strome this season when they gave him his current three-million-dollar deal that runs through the end of next season. They continued to bet on him when they didn’t trade him ahead of the deadline. So, it really is in their best interest to play him and see if he can bounce back.

Strome does not have to be a top-line forward, but he does need to be a middle-six guy. I really do think that he has enough talent to play 15 or 16 minutes a night with some skilled forwards.

Maybe Strome can play with the Blackhawks’ “Bash Bros”. While Strome isn’t going to be the franchise center the team needs, that can be Kirby Dach in the long run.

Chicago has six games to go this season and I hope Strome proves his worth in at least one of those games!  With fans set to return to the United Center for the final two games of the season, the time is now for Strome to put on a show.