The Chicago Blackhawks have gotten off to a mediocre 3-3-0 start and will now have to deal with the loss of Duncan Keith for the next 4-6 weeks.
In this edition of the hotstove we discuss whether the Blackhawks can survive and stay afloat in an ultra competitive division without their best defenseman.
Todd Cordell I think the Blackhawks will be fine. If there's any team that can lose its best defenseman and survive it's the Blackhawks and that's not because they're overly deep on the back end, obviously.
They have some of the best two-way forwards the league has to offer in Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa and they'll always be back to take some of the burden off the defense and provide them with easy outlets.
Generally they can score with the best of teams, too, so even if they're giving up an extra goal here and there they should be able to make up for it with all the talent they have up front.
I'm not saying the loss of Keith won't hurt - it will - but I definitely don't think they'll free fall down the standings or drop out of the race.
John Jaeckel Yes.
But . . . they didn't do themselves any favors with a 3-3 start. And they were already giving "on the job" training, to one extent or another, to three defensemen.
I would be mildly shocked if the only answer is a call-up of Kyle Cumiskey. Assuming Keith goes on LTIR, a fair amount of cap space opens up, and the Hawks will have the option soon of sending Bryan Bickell to the AHL and opening up another million dollars. The question is, where does the replacement come from, by what means (trade or veteran FA) and who it is.
There has been some rumor scuttlebutt that the Hawks have been looking for a veteran, left-handed defenseman anyway. Now the stakes just get a bit higher. And the urgency greater.
Tim Chiasson I don't think the Chicago Blackhawks can be a top team in the Western Conference without Duncan Keith.
Can they stay in the wildcard hunt? Absolutely. They've got a good team, but they're about to find out just how much Duncan Keith means to that organization. They've leaned on him on the blueline for years to go above and beyond normal expectations of an individual player and he's knocked it out of the park.
There are a lot of good teams in the West and for Chicago to be in the top they need Keith. Is 4-6 weeks severely damaging to a team in the grand scheme of things with regards to the playoffs? Probably not for the Blackhawks given the team they have, but I'd temper any hopes of winning the Central Division.
I'd be surprised if they moved up from where they're hovering early in the 7-8-9 seed before Duncan Keith returns. There's a lot more pressure now on that entire team and it's adversity that they haven't really had to deal with during their modern dynasty.
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