2015-2016 Stats
47 – 26 – 9 (103 Points)
GF/G: 2.85 (6th)
GA/G: 2.52(11th)
PP: 22.6% (2nd)
PK: 80.3% (22nd)
5v5 Score-adjusted CF%: 51.31% (12th)
5v5 Score-adjusted CF60: 57.17 (12th)
5v5 Score-adjusted CA60: 54.24 (13th)
5v5 SV%: 92.86 (12th)
Were it not for Patrick Kane’s ridiculous 106 point performance and Corey Crawford’s sterling .924 SV% last year, the Blackhawks might have had an even more disappointing finish to the season. Those two and a lethal power play were able to mask what was a pretty middling team last year by most advanced metrics. With the addition of old friend Brian Campbell and some new faces at the bottom of the roster, Chicago hopes to enter rarified company this season and win a 4th Stanley cup during their recent run of excellence.
Reasons for Optimism
High-End Players: The Blackhawks have top-line talent few teams in the NHL can match: an Art Ross winner, one of the best captains and two-way centers in the NHL, a two-time Norris winner. Not to mention important complementary pieces like Niklas Hjalmarsson and Marcus Kruger.
Defensive Depth: Getting Brian Campbell at only $1.5 million is going to help this team immensely. One of the team’s biggest problems last year was the lack of a puck-mover on the back-end beyond Duncan Keith. Having 4 very solid defensemen will make this group one of the best in the West. Michal Kempny (unproven), Michal Rozsival (old), Erik gustafsson (meh), Trevor van Riemsdyk (bad) won’t make up an amazing bottom pair, but seeing as they’ll only be tasked with playing the other team’s bottom six, they should be up to the task.
Reasons For Pessimism
Forward Depth: Good lord have you seen the bottom six of this roster? Vincent Hinostroza, Dennis Rasmussen, Brandon Mashinter are all names that will figure into this roster, at least in the early going. Jordin Tootoo is on this team for fuck’s sake. The hope is that one of the kids (Nick Schmaltz, Ryan Hartman) proves they can hack it on an NHL roster, but more than likely they’ll end up starting the season in Rockford. With the recent jettisoning of picks and prospects in years past, Stan Bowman will have his hands full trying to improve this team midseaon.
Father Time: Marian Hossa is going to be 38 when this season ends. Brent Seabrook is 31 has looked a step slow for a couple seasons now. Duncan Keith is 33 and coming off knee surgery. If Marian Hossa really is done as a first liner (and he is), that leaves a hole on Toews’s wing that won’t be filled by Richard Panik (assuming the Panarin-Anisimov-Kane line sticks together). If Duncan Keith can no longer be the lynchpin of this team, that raises serious questions about how far they can realistically go.
Outlook
Despite any concerns this team may have, the addition of Brian Campbell may low-key turn out to be the best free agent signing of the offseason. He was an absolutely stud in Florida and will immediately fix most of the problems this team had the previous season. It took a while, but people last year finally realized Corey Crawford is actually a really good goalie. If one of the kids turns out he can play or this team makes a move to bolster a forward group already featuring world class talent like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, they immediately become the division favorites.
Double Bickells On The Dime 