The Curious Case of the Blackhawks Rebuild- Unrestricted Free Agency

The Chicago Blackhawks aren't very good. Surprise!!!! They are young. They are injured. They are short on talent. Games like the one against St. Louis Saturday night are the epitome of a rebuild: a magnificent moment by the phenom Connor Bedard and then a meltdown to lose by two. Does Chicago need to do anything right now? Is there a moment of panic?

The short answer is not really. Everyone knew coming in that this year was going to be rough.

Kyle Davidson is planning for a long future of success and won't let short-term, temporary, gains derail that. Hawks fans should rejoice in this logic. However, a few things will need to be addressed moving forward so this doesn't get out of hand. A rebuild doesn't have to mean constant regression to continue a tank mentality.

First, something has to be done in goal. Petr Mrazek can't play every game and Arvid Soderblom just doesn't have it. It's time for Jaxson Stauber to get a chance. He likely isn't the answer, but we won't know until he laces them up.

But the bigger question at hand is this- what is to be done with Mrazek's free agency? Mrazek is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. His current salary is $3.8 million. He could potentially get traded at the deadline for more assets, but at this point, more assets may not be the answer. The best choice here is to re-sign Mrazek for one more year. (provided he would return) Some consistency in goal outweighs a trade. The Blackhawks need to buy one more year for Drew Commesso to get his chance.