The Blackhawks have been busy. It started at the end of last year, continued into this past offseason, and now has picked up prior to this year’s trade deadline. We’ve seen a ton of good players shipped away, as the Blackhawks try to bottom out to get the #1 overall pick in this year’s NHL draft. The rebuild is in full swing.
This year thus far, the names include Josiah Slavin, Jack Johnson, Jake McCabe, and Sam Lafferty; mostly draft picks have been coming our way. Not sure if any of these names do anything for you? I’ll be the first to admit, I have not been following the Blackhawks as close this year as I typically do, but I have heard and read good things about McCabe and Lafferty. They will be in the postseason this year, helping the Maple Leafs make a push. As the good teams gear up for the run for Stanley, the bad teams (like us) stockpile draft picks, and hope to punch the ticket in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes. Sending away as many good players as possible will help us achieve that goal.
I don’t understand shipping away young guys that have promise though, like Hagel, Dach, DeBrincat. At 29 & 27 respectively, McCabe and Lafferty aren’t quite as young as that group, but they are still in their 20s. The Blackhawks are getting REALLY young though. Anybody over the age of 25 need not apply, however, even if you’re 21-22 years old, like Kirby Dach, you still may not fit; bold strategy Cotton. That’s not exactly true though. The current Hawks roster is filled with guys in that mid-late 20 range; most of them would probably be moved in a flash if the value was there. This is how a rebuild works, right?
This rebuild is a little more critical, because of the presence of this Bedard guy; the next big thing? Certainly snatching a guy like that, if he pans out, would help kickstart this rebuild into the next gear, setting the Hawks up for success over the next decade plus; can’t wait for that time to come around. It’s been a minute since the Hawks have been good; I miss those days.
The last two standing from that era are Toews and Kane. Toews has been out with a medical condition; makes you wonder how much longer he’ll be in a Hawks uni. Then there’s Kane, who was going to be traded to the Rangers, then not going to be traded, then definitely on the move again, then… well, this blog is supposed to be focused on the first dominoes that fell… not THE domino; that’s next.
It’s been rough sledding around these parts; Chicago sports has been in a bit of a rut. The tide will eventually turn for all of our teams, including the Blackhawks. In the Hawks case, we are still in the subtraction stage; get rid of whoever we can, and get whatever picks we can for them. Bottom the current team out on the ice, and get that #1 pick. If we can ace this two stages, then we can start talking about heading the other direction. The Hawks had been good on the ice as of late… too good… it was time to escalate the exit of good players of this roster; let’s kick this into high gear. What happened next though… was a gear I don’t think any of us really wanted to see.
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