The Blackhawks fourth line showed promise in preseason debut

With the Chicago Blackhawks second preseason game (and first one at home) against the Minnesota Wild on Sept. 21, head coach Jeff Blashill went with mainly their core lineup, minus Patrick Kane.

The Blackhawks' new players, Roman Kantserov, Bowen Byram, Ian Cole, Jordan Greenway, and Cole Smith, brought intrigue, wondering what their impact would be.

Two of those players, Smith and Greenway, were paired together on the fourth line with Ryan Greene, and Blashill has high hopes for what that line can bring, as do the players.

What the fourth line can bring

When the Blackhawks signed Smith in free agency and acquired Jordan Greenway alongside Byram, it was implied they would help reshape the bottom-six, especially after key players like Ilya Mikheyev and Jason Dickinson departed.

In the first preseason game, they got a good glimpse into the fourth line of Smith, Greenway, and Greene.

Smith, Greenway, and Greene were plus-1's in the team's 4-3 overtime win and made a strong impression. Alex Vlasic said about their chipiness, "I loved it. I think that line with Smitty and Greenway... I wouldn't want to play against those guys if they're coming after me. They're big bodies. They play hard and (are) definitely pretty scary to play against. So yeah, I like the way that we kind of answered the bell. There's not going to be any free hits out there, and I think guys did a good job stepping up for one another."

I spoke with Smith at practice on Sept. 20 and asked more about what he was looking to bring to the Blackhawks: "I think the one thing I want to bring is just energy to the team. Be able to play my game, which is a hard physical game, change energy when we need to, create some o-zone pressure, and also try to be a good defensive presence out there and be consistent every night. I think that's a huge thing, especially as a fourth line guy is be consistent every night... The highs are nice, but you know, keep the lows to a minimum, and be there for the guys whenever they need you."

It's worth sticking with Greene, Greenway, and Smith for now

They did a lot of good things well in the first preseason game. Smith looked good at chasing down pucks and doing the dirty work. Greenway looked like a solid agitator who also made a nice play to get the puck back at the blue line, and with Greene in that mix, he had a good scoring chance. So, that line has a mix of different skill sets.

There is also the element that those three seem to enjoy playing together, and that chemistry could help their results as the season goes on.

As Smith said, "Through camp so far, I've been playing with Greener and Greener. So, Green squared. It's been great. I think it'll be fun to play a game. You know, get used to it. But I think you could even see in the scrimmage today... I think we read off each other pretty well already. That's something that's obviously going to keep growing the longer you play together and learn each other's tendencies and where we want to put the puck for each other and stuff. So, it's been great through the first four days, and looking forward to playing some more with these guys and getting to know them."

It's a small sample size, but they likely showed enough for the coach to want to stick with them for now. Blashill said after the game, "I thought they were a really good line all game. They're just big men on the wings. (The) Greeners can complement him (Smith) well. He's got a good kind of heady game to him. Obviously, they had some physicality. They had some strength on the puck. They play a real simple, but effective game. Certainly, a group that showed me... you know, gave me a lot of confidence moving forward to put them out and play them against other teams' good players."

Having an effective bottom-six is important for any NHL team, and the fourth line showed early potential for what the Blackhawks hoped to achieve by adding Smith and Greenway. Meanwhile, Greene has already shown he can be effective on the top six and bottom six.

Blashill talked about looking for a line that can bring toughness, while eating minutes against some of the opponent's best, and they brought the traits that Smith laid out.

It was a good start for Greene, Smith, and Greenway.

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