|
6 Hawks who need to step up |
|
|
|
|
|
There are a lot of gambles and variables for the Blackhawks going in to the 2017-18 season. Setting aside the obvious need for bounceback seasons from the likes of Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith, the Hawks have invested heavily this offseason and last in young players with some NHL experience—who are now being asked, if not expected, to quickly mature as professionals.
3 of them defensemen, and 3 would-be centers. That should tell you where the big questions are today on the Hawk roster.
No, you don’t see Alex DeBrincat on here—and for a couple of reasons. Offense from the wing should not be a problem for this team, and Debrincat is likely going to play in Rockford all year anyway.
In order of priority (high to low):
Connor Murphy, RD, 24
The Hawks don’t need Murphy to be great, but they need him to be more consistently good than he has been to this point in his career.
Stan Bowman said something important to note at the draft about Murphy and other players he had just acquired: fans and scribes should not expect them to exactly replace the players they were dealt for—they will bring different things to the table.
So Murphy is not going to be the intuitive, positional active stick genius that Niklas Hjalmarsson was. Murphy is a big kid with some speed, decent shutdown ability and a nasty streak. And that said, he may end up actually being (at his best) more along the lines of a Brent Seabrook than a Hjalmarsson.
Greater consistency, if it comes for him, will likely do so because of who he will be partnered with (in all likelihood Duncan Keith), coaching and patience.
This may have been Bowman’s biggest gamble of the summer—and the one the Hawks need most to pay off.
Michal Kempny, LD, 26
Kempny had an up and down first year in Chicago—highlighted by flashes of great speed to pucks, a big point shot, and a taste for hitting people.
The downside was a tendency to get caught too far up ice, turn the wrong way, lose position. The good news there is the positives are natural physical attributes. The second three are mental issues that can be overcome—like Murphy—through coaching, TOI and patience.
Just as Murphy is the wildcard on the Hawks’ top pair, Kempny will be on an important second pair, most likely with Seabrook. The stakes are not quite as high as they are with Murphy, and Kempny seemed to stabilize and play well when he was with Seabrook (particularly) last year.
Gustav Forsling, LD, 21
Forsling is in some ways the Kempny insurance policy.
Should his game take a major step up in terms of consistency and seamlessness, he could potentially play with Seabrook, and bump Kempny down to a lower pressure role on the third pair.
Both Forsling (especially) and Kempny could potentially bring the big point shot to the left point on the powerplay that the Hawks have been missing since Nick Leddy left town.
Laurent Dauphin, C, 22
The forgotten man in the Hjalmarsson trade, Dauphin was more than just a throw-in for the Hawks.
Drafted in the high second round a few years ago by the Coyotes (which for many Hawk fans, typically qualifies their own draftees as possible hall of famers), Dauphin was likely targeted by the Hawks as a potential replacement for Marcus Kruger.
They’re not the same player, exactly. But Dauphin projects in a similar role as Kruger—penalty killing, forechecking, defending center. There is some early evidence that Dauphin can be that kind of player in the NHL. The only question is how much and how soon. He’s very fast, aggressive and plays bigger than his size.
Tanner Kero, C, 25
Kero raised some eyebrows last year when he emerged from the minors and relative obscurity to become a useful role player. The questions are: what is his actual upside and where does he ultimately fit?
He showed he could be effective at times playing with top 6 players, yet it’s hard to see him as a 1st or 2nd line center.
He can defend and kill penalties, but like all Hawk centers not named Toews, he has not shown himself to be consistently strong on faceoffs. Having Kero or Dauphin deliver as an effective second or first faceoff option on the penalty kill would be huge for the Hawks.
Nick Schmaltz, W/C, 21
Schmaltz is at the bottom of this list, because his “stepping up” is a “nice to have” this year—not a dire need. Schmaltz is the only legitimate top 6 center prospect in the organization.
If Schmaltz were to grow into the role of a true NHL playmaking center, it could make Artem Anisimov and his bigger contract expendable, freeing more dollars up to address other issues. Will it happen? Doubtful this year. Schmaltz seems to still have a ways to go in terms of physical maturity.
HONORABLE MENTION:
Anton Forsberg, G
Tomas Jurco, W
All I have for now. More to come this weekend.
JJ
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»