Chicago Blackhawks Grades: Duncan Keith 2021 Report Card

Duncan Keith was himself this season. Similar to Patrick Kane, he is the rock of this team helping to lead them through this rebuild. The Chicago Blackhawks are lucky to have Keith, and they are going to need him for a few more seasons.

Keith played in a lot of games this season for the Chicago Blackhawks, let’s talk about his entire season.

Very few defensemen have been employed by one team as long as Keith has been in Chicago. He has been known as a hall of fame defenseman for the past ten-plus seasons, and his legacy is only getting more and more paragraphs as the years keep going.

Keith has been this team’s guy for a long time, and while this season was not his best by any measures, he still was the durable team player they needed.

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Duncan Keith Stats Breakdown:

Games Played: 54

Goals – 4

Assists – 11

Points – 15

Corsi – 45.2

Offensive Zone Starts: 52.5

Defensive Zone Starts: 47.5

Ice Time Average: 23:25 per game

Season Grade: B

Bigger Picture:

Keith being a team leader in ice time with 23:25 per game might not be a good idea. The defenseman is not getting any younger and now might be the time to start passing the torch to the next era of defensemen within this season. Connor Murphy can be leading the team or maybe even one of the dozen young players on the blue line.

Keith is not on the team to score goals, he is there to help keep the puck out of the net and do everything he can to help win. It is why his contract is still not a liability to this team and never will be – Keith continues to find ways to stay on top of his game.

"Chicago Blackhawks Grades: Patrick Kane 2021 Report Card"

Next Season:

Next season will probably not be a Norris trophy year for Keith, but he still can be a leader within the team as he has been for the past dozen seasons. Honestly, when you think about it the group should be better, and that could mean that we see Keith play in bigger more important situation again next season, something he has continued to rise to the occasion for.