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The Alex DeBrincat Show, originally billed as the 2017 Traverse City NHL Prospect Tourney—closed out yesterday in Northwest Lower Michigan with a tour de force performance by the 5’6” wunderkind out of suburban Detroit and the OHL.

In my last blog, I tried to keep it in perspective—and stay cynical. But that’s getting a little harder to do. As has been pointed out elsewhere, DeBrincat is overwhelming prospect tourney defensemen with his moves and creativity from the blueline in, and goalies with the release and speed of his shot. There’s a reason for that: those are NHL caliber skills.

However, they do not, immediately, make an NHL player.

ADB, by all accounts, has some things to work on in his overall game, and he isn’t flashing his skills against Alex Pietrangelo, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Carey Price, or Henrik Lundqvist.

More tests are to come shortly at Blackhawk pro camp. Where it would be great if DeBrincat could play a top 4 shutdown role on defense, or provide a 50%+ faceoff option for defensive zone draws and the penalty kill. He can’t. But for the Hawks to contend—not just feed prospect hype to Meatheadville—someone has to do those things.

I am one of those who believe the Panarin for Saad trade will likely actually help the Hawks overall offensively. Some look at goals and asissits each player had —on different teams, with different linemates—and say otherwise.

I look at the pretty much proven fact that Patrick Kane (and likely Artem Anisimov) are going to get their points—whether Panarin, Patrick Sharp, Ryan Hartman, or hey, it could happen, DeBrincat, is on their left wing. And whoever that lucky player is, he’ll have a good year as well, playing with the other two.

Meanwhile Saad’s chemistry with Jonathan Toews is proven. And it’s not just happenstance; stylistically, Saad does so many things reasonably well—he’s a beast on the puck down low, he can finish or set up, and he has elite speed. Taken together, that’s why he clicked so well with Toews from 2012 to 2015.

Overall, you get greater balance in your top 6, on your top two lines, and more matchup problems for opposing coaches, especially in the playoffs—versus allowing them to just stack their best defensemen against the AK72 line.

So, getting back to the Boy Wonder. Is he “needed” this year?

I don’t think so. Because his eventual NHL role is going to be as a top 6 LW. Not a 4th line banger or a defensive forward. And for all the "oooh-ing and ahh-ing" over him shredding 19 year old Blue Jackets prospects, maybe a year or so down at Rockford where he can gain confidence and a full pro game is the best thing for him and the Hawks. Call me crazy. Others have before.

Now back to faceoffs and defense. The Hawks have invited LW Drew Miller, C John Mitchell, Ds Cody Franson and Mark Stuart to camp as PTOs.

There is a cause and effect there. The Hawks know where the holes (or at least questions) are right now.

Although I reported a few years ago the Hawks made a hard move for Stuart when he was with the Bruins (and in his prime), he is pretty much running on fumes now, and a longshot at best to make the club.

Miller was once a pretty crafty defensive forward, but his numbers have declined steadily, and the Hawks didn’t go out and sign Tommy Wingels and Lance Bouma not to play. Some might argue otherwise about Bouma—but he has $1 million on a check signed by Rocky Wirtz that kinda says otherwise.

Mitchell, I believe, was brought in at the very least to compete for a 4th line role. He is sort of in the Andrew Desjardins mold, but maybe a bit better on faceoffs, and he can kill penalties, too.

If someone else beats him out—like a Tanner Kero, a Vince Hinostroza or a Laurent Dauphin—it will be because they do that specific job better—not just because . . . “play da kidsssss.”

Franson, it appears, may now be designated as Michal Rozsival 2.0—perhaps soon to be dubbed “The 3-Wheeled Dominick’s Shopping Cart” (copyright, 2017).

Like Rozy, Franson is big and kinda slow, but there the comparisons sort of end, Franson can deliver some offense. And he’s 30, not 39.

But don’t count Rozy out: he may be more Cyberdyne Systems 101—evil, unkillable cyborg—than pure shopping cart. I, for one, will not be terribly surprised to see him in a Hawk uniform one last time.

I’ll have more on pro camp in the next couple of days.


JJ

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