Extending Spencer Knight may not initially look good, but it should work out

The Chicago Blackhawks sent the strongest message yet that they believe Spencer Knight is a No. 1 netminder in the NHL by signing him to a three-year extension.

Knight has started just 85 games and has never been the unquestioned starting goalie until coming to Chicago last season in the Seth Jones trade with Florida. That lack of experience has done nothing to dissuade general manager Kyle Davidson from waiting to see if Knight can handle being the top goalie.

Although Davidson did hedge his bet by only committing to three years. If things do not go well, a $5.83 million cap hit for three seasons is not going to cripple the team's salary cap.

You have got to give Davidson credit. He finds a way to sign young talent to deals that will not put a chokehold on the team's future ability to spend.

There is a high likelihood that extending Knight may not look like a smart decision when the season starts. I am not trying to paint a gloomy picture, as I think Knight has the talent to make this agreement look great in the long run.

I am encouraged by his .913 save percentage in even-strength situations with the Blackhawks last season. I really like him having a .918 save percentage in high-danger scoring situations for Chicago compared to the .771 he had with Florida.

I am just concerned it is going to be hard to produce early as he navigates his teammates going through some growing pains.

The young defense and team are adjusting to a new system

Knight is going to have a young defensive unit in front of him. Connor Murphy and Alex Vlasic are the only defenders to have played in multiple full NHL seasons. They bring their own question marks. Murphy is usually bound for an injured reserve stint, so it is hard to rely on his experience being on the ice.

Vlasic is still trying to prove he can be a No. 1 defenseman without it being by default. He assumed that role last season after Jones was traded, and the blue line was going through an in-season youth movement. He has the talent and the track record early in his career to be a top-pair defenseman, but he has to prove he is not in the lower tier of No. 1 defenders.

Former first-round picks Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel have the potential to win Norris Trophies. However, they will have their growing pains. Wyatt Kaiser, Kevin Korchinski, Ethan Del Mastro, and Nolan Allan are also talented players, but Korchinski is the only one in that group to play a full NHL season.

There are going to be nights early on when the baby blueliners make some huge mistakes, leaving Knight on an island to come up with a huge save.

That is what we saw in Knight's 15 starts with the Blackhawks last season. He went from a .907 save percentage with a defending Stanley Cup championship defense in Florida to .893 in Chicago.

Knight will also have to deal with increased odd-man rushes as his teammates adjust to new head coach Jeff Blashill's 2-1-2 system.

Blashill likes his defensemen to create turnovers to jumpstart the offensive attack. However, if his blueliners, or defensive-minded forwards, overplay a check attempt/lose a board battle, that is going to create more odd-man attacks coming Knight's way.

The team's speed and getting more accustomed to the system should eventually mitigate that issue, but there will be issues at the start.

That is why my advice is not to get too hung up on Knight's production in October and November. Things are going to be rough in the beginning. What you want to look for is improvement as the season goes on.

Hopefully, as the season goes on, the odd-man rushes go down and the young defensemen get better in the finer details of the game. That should help Knight get better by decreasing the amount of shots he is going to face.

Knight also has the opportunity to shine to make this concern seem silly. If he can make numerous bailout saves on the increased number of shots he will likely face, then this deal is going to be a steal.