Man, I love this time of year on Blackhawk message boards.
Wait no. Not really.
It is fascinating, though, to see how really wacky theories form, then get lift, and ultimately become “fact… in the summer.
Some of that has been the case with the Hawks signing of Brian Campbell—the big personnel move of the summer, over and above the usual cap curtailment moves (like trading Teuvo Teravainen and Andrew Shaw).
Above all, even if it's not the Godsend some would like to believe it is—this was a positive move for the Hawks—unless you’re inclined to suspect the Hawks could have used the cap space allocated to Campbell—along with some remaining cap room—to upgrade the left wing position.
It’s really hard to definitively say one way or the other. But the relative bargain price at which the Hawks locked Campbell up for 2016-17 suggests that, regardless, there probably wouldn’t have been enough money regardless to acquire a veteran left winger who could play top 6 minutes.
So . . .
What did the Hawks get in Campbell?
Last year’s numbers suggest that Campbell’s game is still as good as it ever was: 6G/25A, 82 games, +31 (on a good Florida team). In fact, Campbell has not lost a game to injury in at least the last two seasons.
So here’s a durable, proven guy that can play the left side, likely on your second pair—as the guy who does that on the first pair is named Duncan Keith.
This is important because the left side on the second pair was a problem all season last year—after the departure of Johnny Oduya to Dallas. Ironically enough, Oduya was acquired in the Spring of 2012 to fill that hole, after the Hawks had shipped Campbell off to Florida the previous summer.
One thing both Oduya and Campbell did in their previous tenures in Chicago was take minutes and matchup pressure off Keith. A strong and persuasive argument can be made that Keith’s superhuman performance in the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs was in part because of Oduya’s big minutes and ability to handle opponent’s top lines.
Additionally, the departure of Oduya forced Joel Quenneville and the coaching staff to try to force fit solutions on the second pair—Trevor van Riemsdyk, who is much better on the right side and probably better suited to third pair/utility duties, and Erik Gustafsson were the default 2LD choices last season.
Ideally—ie, when the Hawks won all three of their Cups since 2010—the top pair would be (most often) Keith and Brent Seabrook and either Oduya or Campbell with Niklas Hjalmarsson.
So, order is once again restored to the Universe.
Seabrook no longer has to serve as nursemaid to Gustafsson or Viktor Svedberg. Van Riemsdyk can anchor (from the right side) what could be a great third pair with another summer acquisition, Michal Kempny. Hjalmarsson has a partner he has proven chemistry with—and he can remain on the right side where he seems better. Keith’s minutes and situations are better managed.
All good, right?
Meh, well, yes, and maybe no.
While Campbell and Oduya filled the same role, they aren’t exactly the same player. Campbell is much more the “all the way up the ice, never saw a pinch he didn’t like, riverboat gambler… type of defenseman, where Oduya really always was more defense first.
What is interesting is that there is some scouting on Kempny that compares him more stylistically to Oduya.
Regardless, barring the unforeseen, Campbell will get the 20-25 minutes a night Oduya did, at least at first. But all fans should understand, Campbell’s style and history indicate that he will get caught up ice once in a while or get manhandled down low, where Oduya typically didn’t.
Alternately, Campbell upgrades one of the power play units considerably and, beyond 5-on-5 play, takes TOI/situational pressure off of Keith.
So the verdict on this move, in a broader sense, is mostly very good from the standpoint of slotting individual players, matchups, situational usage, and depth on the blueline. Does it, as some seem to want to theorize, make the Hawks a better defensive team covering back and from the blue line in—just because Campbell is on the ice? That's a little tougher to say.
The next installment in “Inspecting The Goods… will be the top 6 LW candidates.
All for now,
JJ