Blackhawks: The pros and cons of playing DeBrincat with Strome

The Cons of playing Strome with DeBrincat

• DeBrincat should be with Patrick Kane
• If Strome can only play with DeBrincat then that probably isn’t a good idea
• Chicago has a lot of centers
• Limits DeBrincat’s minutes

The Chicago Blackhawks are going to want to play Alex DeBrincat in the top six. With Kirby Dach, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane all being spread throughout the lineup, it might not be a good idea to put Strome with DeBrincat on the third line. Sure that would make the lineup deeper, but then DeBrincat wouldn’t be on the ice as much.

What the lineup could look like when the two are separated next season:

Dominik Kubalik – Jonathan Toews – Brandon Hagel 

Alex DeBrincat – Kirby Dach – Patrick Kane 

Vinnie Hinostroza – Phillipp Kurashev – Pius Suter

Mike Hardman – David Kampf – Dylan Strome 

What probably will happen:

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I think there will be some variation of playing them together at times and not playing them together as well. Personally, I think Jeremy Colliton is not that great at keeping his players into it. Scratching Strome for two games to play a few extra defensemen against Nashville was kind of out of the ordinary and it did not work out for them either.

We have all seen what Dylan Strome is capable of during his first season and even from time to time the past two years Strome has been the player the Hawks need. Chicago doesn’t need a top-line guy, they need someone to make their lineup a little deeper. The only issue is they have a lot of different pieces already around to do that.

I really do not think the lineup will actually look like either one of those lists. I did not include a lot of other pieces this team has from Gaudette to Carpenter. Plus there are some young prospects that might make the jump to the NHL next season.

Trading Dylan Strome is always an option for the right return. We will have to wait for the season to end and the off-season to begin to find out what changes this team will see. Comment down below what the Hawks lineup should look like next season, and more importantly whether or not Strome should be with DeBrincat.