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Many Thoughts: Crawford, Quenneville, Keith

December 17, 2018, 8:21 AM ET [760 Comments]
Tyler Cameron
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT


Oh boy, do I have so many thoughts. What a weekend that was "highlighted" by a 4-3 OT loss to Winnipeg on Friday and a 7-3 thud last night vs. the Sharks.

The Hawks had some nice effort and push back against the Jets but fell short in the extra frame. Just when you thought the Hawks were turning the corner under Colliton, they fall back down to this train wreck on ice that we've become accustomed to watching for the majority of the season.

Last night there was a nice start the game, but that was erased by SJ takeover from the 2nd period onwards. Eddie O said it best during the game, the Hawks were succeeding playing a speed game, but the Sharks swayed the momentum with a slower, zone-to-zone game.

The Hawks knew they were in tough with this string of opponents and it doesn't get any easier this week. They have Nashville (Tuesday) at home, then hit the road to tackle a couple tough games – Dallas (Thursday) and Colorado (Friday).

Let's get to some of the more important news and rumours that are affecting the Hawks.

Corey Crawford might be gone for a while. Jeremy Colliton announced immediately after the game the Crawford has suffered a concussion. That's a very quick prognosis but the way that Crawford collided with Dylan Strome (then the post) it is not a surprise.

The play happened in the 1st period when the Sharks were driving the net, Evander Kane launched the backchecking Strome directly into Crawford. You could hear a collective gasp in the building when it happened.

With Corey's concussion issues that were documented dating back to last year around this time, there was always a chance that he could be hurt again.

This is truly unfortunate and I hope his recovery is quick. The Hawks and his family need him to be 100%.

So, until there are any further updates, expect to see a lot of Cam Ward. If you want to prepare for the worst though let's look ahead if Crawford is out long-term and what that means for the Hawks:

1) The likelihood of Crawford being traded now is very low. There were growing rumours that if Corey would be willing to waive his NMC, the Hawks could look to see if there were any suitors for him. With this latest concussion, the percentage of him being moved decreases significantly.

2) Anton Forsberg comes up and we see if his time in Rockford has turned him into NHL ready. He is playing really well and is coming off a 49-save OT loss. He's 5-3-0 in Rockford with a 2.62 GAA and .917 SV%. I still believe Forsberg has NHL talent physically, it's just his mental game that needed a lot of work.

3) What do they have Colin Delia? This will be a question that could be answered sooner than later. Jeremy Colliton has shown that he is getting his way with some roster decisions, which has been evident by the latest call-up, Carl Dahlstrom. Will he convince Stan to recall the goalie that he's most familiar with from the farm? Not only are his numbers better than Forsberg's, but he's pacing the entire AHL with his play. He's 7-5-4 in the AHL with a 2.34 GAA (3rd in the league) and a .933 SV% (1st in the league). I for one would love to see if he has NHL chops.

4) You have Cam Ward and are paying him $3M… might as well use him. This is why Stan signed the veteran Ward. For the most part this year, Ward has played well between the pipes. He's going to continue to see a barrage of high danger shots, but at least he's used to it from his days in Carolina and his short time here in Chicago.

Moving on, what is going on in Philly?

Rumours have emerged that Joel Quenneville will be joining the Philadelphia Flyers as Dave Hakstol. THEN, those rumours were denied by the organization.

Something weird is going on, but I do anticipate Coach Q heading to Philadelphia unless something big fell through in his negotiations with newly appointed GM Chuck Fletcher.

On paper, the Flyers are not much better than Hawks (2 points ahead of them) but I do like a lot of their pieces and see why Joel would find them an appealing.

Their talent up front is a nice mixture of veterans (Giroux, Simmonds, JVR, Vorachek) with younger players (Konecny, Couturier, Patrick) hitting their stride.

They have a plethora of talented younger defencemen (Gostisbehere, Provorov, Sanheim) but could use a little more leadership from back there (ohhhhhh foreshadowing).

Their goaltending is a mess and has been a mess for a while. However, they do have the kid Carter Hart in the AHL and he's starting to heat up down there. He's a year or two away from making an impact so PHI will need a stopgap until then.

With this news of "Q to PHI" surfacing, there have been whispers about Duncan Keith might want to follow Coach Q. I actually heard a while back that Keith and Seabrook were waiting to see what Quenneville's next move was going to be and then look to follow him if possible.

Keith, I can see. Seabrook, with that contract, would be difficult. Both of them together at $12M+ AAV for 5-6 more years would be nearly impossible.

I was looking into something I heard about Keith being paired up with another veteran though in a trade but that has since gone out the window as that other player was Corey Crawford. Those two to Philly could have made a lot of sense depending on how aggressive Fletcher is looking to get.

What would a Keith to the Flyers trade look like if they were to move him? I'm not entirely sure, but my starting ask would be Travis Sanheim and/or Travis Konecny with some +'s potentially on either side.

I'm not said I want Keith traded or think he will waive his NMC but if he is unhappy with the direction of the Hawks and wants another shot at winning a cup, then I trade him while he has some value left.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours based on this weekend's games and happenings?


JL
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