Hey Now, You’re An All-Star – Your Weekly Blackhawks Recap

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: February 3, 2016

(Week of 1/24 – 1/30)

The Blackhawks went 1-1 before the break, shutting out the Blues at home, then getting shut out by the Hurricanes on the road.

Notes

Forwards: Anything I have to say here only applies to the St. Louis game, because nobody was much good against Carolina. The Shake An Bake line did what they do. The Toews line was solid. The bottom six was okay. Priority #1 for the Hawks at the deadline should be a 1LW. Chief at Barstool wants to bring in Dustin Byfuglien, who can play forward or defense. Steve Rosenbloom said in the Trib today, that the Hawks need a wing and a defenseman, and brought up Andrew Ladd for the former. While I like Dusty Buff as much as the next guy, and yeah, I guess he could fit at 1LW, since, after all, it was Bickell’s play there in 2013 that got him the contract we’re now trying to find a way out of, and the hope for Bickell was that he could be the next Byfuglien, I’d rather have Ladd. Mark Lazerus said the Hawks should consider bringing back Kris Versteeg, who was such a big help last year that he was a healthy scratch during the Final. I like Laz, but no, just no, on this one.

Defensemen: Great against the Blues, awful against the Hurricanes. Let’s talk a bit more about Byfuglien here. Let’s say the Hawks pick him up. He knows the system, he was a big help before. He could help start the offense through the defense. Bringing him in probably means pairings like:

Keith – Seabrook

Hjalmarsson – Byfuglien

Gustafsson – van Riemsdyk

That’s an elite defensive group. But that doesn’t leave you with enough money to get someone to get Shaw off the top line, unless Bowman is able to convince Winnipeg to retain a lot of Byfuglien’s $5.2M cap hit. The Hawks’ success has been a product of their ability to roll four lines. Very few other teams match that. Having Shaw at 1LW is not only not ideal for that line, it takes away someone who contribute in the bottom six. That’s why the top priority at the deadline needs to be a wing.

Goalies: Crawford was excellent against the Blues, and then let a few by against Carolina. None of them were really his fault, though. Darling came on in relief and was okay.

Blackhawks 3 stars of the week:

★★★ Andrew Shaw, F (1 G)

★★ Patrick Kane, RW (1 A)

★ Artemi Panarin, LW (1 G (1 GWG))

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com