New York Rangers rivals: Chicago Blackhawks season preview
The Chicago Blackhawks are on a similar path to the New York Rangers when it comes to retooling their roster and trying to get back into the postseason.
Unlike the New York Rangers, however, the Blackhawks have tasted success recently having won the Stanley Cup in 2015, 2013 and 2010, although that dynasty is now over and is becoming a distant memory.
The Blackhawks do have some key pieces from that championship run still in place, however, with Captain Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford hoping they have at least one more run in them.
Other than those veterans, however, the Blackhawks sport a new-look heading into 2019-20 and they will be an interesting team to watch this year.
They have an abundance of youth and talent on their roster, but they play in a stacked Central Division and that could be their biggest obstacle to overcome this season.
This is the start of a new era for the Blackhawks, though, and it got underway last year when legendary Head Coach Joel Quenneville, who was the mastermind of Chicago’s three most recent Stanley Cups, was sacked on November 6 following a poor start.
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Jeremy Colliton was announced as the 38th Head Coach in Chicago Blackhawks history on the same day, after the former New York Islanders player impressed while coaching the Hawks’ AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.
Colliton did see some improvement from his team and he finished the year with a record of 30-29-9 as the Blackhawks just missed the postseason.
Spearheaded by the incredible efforts of Patrick Kane, who led the Blackhawks in points with 110 (44 goals, 66 assists), Chicago were in the fight until the last week of the regular season when they were eliminated by the Colorado Avalanche on April 2.
It was the first time since the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons that the Blackhawks had missed the playoffs in back-to-back years, but building blocks had been put in place for the future.
Young stars in the ilk of Alex DeBrincat exploded onto the scene with 41 goals and 35 assists for 76 points, while Dylan Strome benefited from a mid-season trade from the Arizona Coyotes by recording 51 points (17 goals, 34 assists).
Defenseman Erik Gustafsson also had a huge year with 17 goals and 43 assists for 60 points, and nine players registered 30 or more points for the Blackhawks last year.
Chicago ranked 8th in the NHL in Goals For Per Game (3.26), 30th in Goals Against Per Game (3.55), 15th on the power play (20.2) and dead last on the penalty kill (72.7).
So, it is pretty evident that the Blackhawks will need to be a hell of a lot better on the blueline in 2019-20 if they want to avoid missing the postseason for a third consecutive year, although they dropped their opening two games.
They opened the regular season in the Czech Republic with a 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, before losing their home opener 5-4 to the San Jose Sharks. They finally got their first point of the season in an overtime loss to Winnipeg.
Chicago has the offensive weapons in place, led by Toews and Kane, but there are serious question marks over their defensive core and that could be the difference between having a successful season or not.
Against The Rangers
There was an early meeting between these two Original Six franchises as the Chicago Blackhawks were 4-1 victors over the New York Rangers at the United Center on October 25.
Pavel Buchnevich got the lone goal for the Blueshirts while Jonathan Toews, Alexandre Fortin, Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat produced the goods for Chicago.
But the season series was split thanks to a dominant display from the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on January 18.
Brandon Saad fired Chicago into the lead in the first period but three unanswered goals from Filip Chytil, Mats Zuccarello and Chris Kreider put the Blueshirts firmly in the driving seat.
Mika Zibanejad also got on the board in-between efforts from Alex DeBrincat and Dominik Kahun, with the Rangers holding on for a big win.
Arrivals
There were a flurry of new faces for the Blackhawks to welcome during the course of the off-season as the franchise continued to try and get younger and better in certain areas.
Gritty forward John Quenneville was acquired from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for forward John Hayden, while proven defenseman Calvin de Haan and former Ranger draft pick, Aleksi Saarela were brought over in a trade from the Carolina Hurricanes.
And the Hawks were active on the first day of free agency after signing depth forward Ryan Carpenter to a three year contract, forward David Kampf to a two-year contract extension and goalie Robin Lehner to a one-year deal.
Lehner was obviously the pick of the off-season additions for the Blackhawks having carved out a hell of a year for the New York Islanders in 2018-19, posting a 2.13 Goals Against Average and a .930 Save Percentage, while collecting the Bill Masterton Trophy and the Williams M. Jennings Trophy.
Young forward Alex Nylander – who was the eighth overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft – was traded from the Buffalo Sabres and young stud Alex DeBrincat was locked down to a three-year extension.
And let’s not forget that the Blackhawks selected center Kirby Dach with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, with the two-way forward a potential long-term replacement for Captain Jonathan Toews.
The Hawks also took defenseman Alex Vlasic (No. 43), left wing Michal Teply (No. 105), center Antti Saarela (No. 123), goalie Dominic Basse (No. 167) and defenseman Cole Moberg (No. 194) in the draft. Yes, Antti is Aleksi’s brother.
Departures
There were few notable departures with depth players John Hayden (F), Henri Jokiharju (D), Anton Forsberg (G) and Gustav Forsling (D) all traded for other pieces, as mentioned in the Arrivals section above.
Other than that, the Blackhawks kept their core intact believing that with the young talent added to the roster, the likes of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith can propel this franchise to another postseason run.
Questions Facing The Blackhawks
How will Chicago manage their goalies? Corey Crawford was a cornerstone of the Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup dynasty, and he will go down as one of the greatest goalies in franchise history. But, injuries have taken their toll on the 34-year-old who isn’t as sharp as he once was and his prime years are now behind him. While he is still capable of standing on his head, injuries remain a concern and Crawford’s reliability isn’t what it once was.
That’s where Robin Lehner comes in. Coming off a superb year for the New York Islanders where he resurrected his career, Lehner was signed by Chicago on the first day of free agency as a high-end backup to Crawford. But, should Crawford struggle or be struck by injuries, then don’t be surprised if Lehner picks up the majority of the workload.
Even if Crawford remains healthy, Lehner could be used a lot down the stretch in order to keep Crawford fresh for the postseason should the Hawks be in a position to make the playoffs in 2019-20.
Will Alex Nylander live up to his potential? That is the million dollar question. Drafted with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres, Nylander never really lived up to lofty expectations and was traded to the Hawks this off-season in exchange for defenseman Henri Jokiharju.
It was a trade that didn’t go down well with Chicago fans given that Nylander only posted six points (three goals, three assists) in 19 career NHL games, coupled with the fact that Jokiharju was a highly-rated prospect. However, the talent is clearly there for Nylander and he began this year with the Blackhawks, recording a goal in two games.
Nylander wasn’t picked as high up in the 2016 Draft for no reason but this year could be a huge one for the youngster in terms of finally tapping into that potential, while the Blackhawks will be hoping they haven’t passed up on a future top six defenseman for an offensive flop.
Can this defense do its job and support a playoff push? As mentioned previously, Chicago ranked 30th in the NHL in 2018-19 in Goals Against Per Game (3.55) and they ranked dead last on the penalty kill (72.7). In other words, their blueline was awful when it came to keeping the puck out of the net and they have some aging defensemen in Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, who are both on massive contracts but are now past their prime.
Erik Gustafsson enjoyed a breakout year offensively with 60 points (17 goals, 43 assists) last year, but it will be up to him, Connor Murphy, Olli Maatta and the newly-acquired Calvin de Haan to step up defensively and do a better job in their own zone. Chicago has the firepower to seal a return to the playoffs, but they won’t get there if their blueline continues to leak goals at an alarming rate.
Defense wins championships, after all.
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When You Can See Them
We have to wait until 2020 for the first meeting of the season between these two Original Six franchises, when the New York Rangers hit the road to take on the Chicago Blackhawks on February 19 for a nationally televised game.
And the final match up of the season series will also be the 2019-20 regular season finale at Madison Square Garden on April 4.
Will that contest hold playoff implications for both teams? Time will tell.