The Blackhawks have been busy over the past week, but they aren’t necessarily done — yet. Free agency opens on Saturday, and Chicago still has some cap space to work with for the coming season. The question is: what do they need?
Chicago was able to add two forwards in a trade with the Boston Bruins — Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno — and then grabbed Corey Perry in a trade with the Lightning during the draft. Foligno and Perry have each signed one-year, $4 million deals since then, meaning the to cross the floor before signing internal RFA Philipp Kurashev. The Hawks are reportedly working on that deal still, but one does now wonder where his role fits into the team and what the lineup might look like💦 in September when training camp ಌopens.
If we include Lukas Reichel and Connor Bedard into our roster construction, the Blackhawks have 14 forwards signed without Kurashev. That’s more bodies than they can skate on a nightly basis, and that total doesn’t include Joey Anderson — who signed a one-year, two-way deal already this summer as well.
Let’s play this out and think about that the opening night roster might look like against Pittsburgh based on just the players who have a signed contract — and Bedard, of course. (New players are in italics.)
Lukas Reichel — Connor Bedard — Andreas Athanasiou
Taylor Hall — Jason Dickinson — Taylor Raddysh
Tyler Johnson — Cole Guttman — Joey Anderson
Nick Foligno — MacKenzie Entwistle — Corey Perry
Extr✃as: Boris Katchouk, Reese Johnson, Colin Blackwel𝐆l
At first glance, this lineup is improved from the end of last year (not very hard) and looks/feels more competitive. The Blackhawks should be able to get 20 goals from both wingers on this second l꧂ine, and the speed dynamic with that top line could make it dang𒆙erous.
But this lineup needs a lot of work down the middle. I really like Dickinson but think he could be a bet꧅ter third center than second line guy. However, as you can see, there are too many bodies for the 12-man lineup every night.
So what happens if the Blackhawks re-sign Kurashev? And what happens if the Blackhawks decide to bring back Max Domi as a possible second-line center option? Obviously somebody has to go — and, most likely — at least two (if not three) players would need to find a new home.
Anderson having a two-way deal means Rockford is an option for him. Guttman, on his entry-level contract, could also find himself in Rockford if space wasn’t there for him with veterans still being on the roster. But I like what I saw from each of them last year enough to give them some more run in the NHL.
The point is: the Blackhawks don’t have to spend money in free agency, but they might. They don’t have a roster hole left for Kurashev to fill, but he might be back. And the Blackhawks might look to move player(s) out via trade if/when teams have needs to fill and no cap space to do that with in the coming days.
