TEAM PREVIEWS: THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Introduction:

Let me come right out and say it; I think you are looking at a 4 or 5 seed here. No one is beating Detroit in this division, unless Osgood goes down and Conklin gives them a full season of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwlvOmIe3XE. Unlikely though.

Enough about Detroit for the moment. Chicago is GOOD... deeper than Toews and Kane, Chicago actually took steps to address their weaknesses in the offseason and bought themselves the components of a championship team. Get ready for the most improved team in the NHL.

Key Departures:
Jason Williams
Nikolai Khabibulin (with any luck)

Williams was a solid forward whose loss will be felt on the slightly wing deprived second and third lines.

Many rumors are circulating on what the Hawks intend to do with Khabibulin and his $6,750,000 contract. Khabibulin's play and constant injuries since he joined the Hawks have turned him from a quality starter and Vezina candidate to a glorified backup. He is now the second best goalie on this team. Despite their representaitions to the contrary, I don't see the Blackhawks using up nearly 13 million dollars on their goaltending tandem. If Khabibulin is traded and brings in a top 6 forward or a shutdown D-man... well then Detroit might have reason to worry.

New Faces:
Cristobal Huet
Brian Campbell

Two of the best free agents available this offseason ended up here in Chicago. Huet fills the need the Hawks thought they addressed long ago by providing them with quality goaltending. There is some concern about Huet facing tons of minutes this year for the first time, but he held up very well down the stretch for the Capitals so I wouldn't worry.

Campbell is a very very good defensman. He isn't the defenseman that scored 62 points last year, but he is a safe bet for another 5o plus points for the next few years. He is going to provide the kind of veteran leadership that this talented D Corps has been lacking. By the time Campbell's contract is up he won't be the number one offensive defenseman here, but by then he will have done his job.

The Offense:

You Want to Draft:
Jonathan Toews
Patrick Kane
Patrick Sharp

Toews was made captain of this team in the offseason. This is not a commentary on the team's depth, but rather an endorsement of Toews' leadership ability. Toews, the bigger scorer of the two big rookies, suffered an injury near the end of last season. If not for that he would have finished with 70ish points and likely would have won the Calder. The sky is the limit for Toews, a future 40 goal scorer, look for between 75 and 85 points for Toews this season but sizable jumps each year hereafter.
FACT: High as I am on Toews... just remember if it isn't this year it'll be next year... it took Kovalchuk three seasons before he really truly broke out. 30 goals and 40ish assists is still a virtual lock though.

Kane did win the rookie of the year last year. His points didn't fall off when Toews went down to injury last year... in fact they picked up. Kane has never been primarily an assist guy; instead tending to, throughout his career, rack up at least as many goals as assists. Last season his numbers suggested that at the NHL level that would not be the case. I ask you to keep in mind that Dany Heatley was primarily an assist guy in his first year as well but his numbers pretty rapidly evened out. I wouldn't be surprised if the same happens to Kane. My prognosis here is the same as with Toews... 75 to 85 points with a ceiling of as high as 100... and enjoy him if you're in a keeper league. They are both only going to get better.
FACT: Kane scored 16 points, 5 goals and 11 assists, in his first month in the NHL, winning rookie of the month. Talk about hitting the ground running.

Sharp was playing with Kane at the end of the season. He showed a lot of promise and netted 36 goals over the course of the season. There is no reason to believe that Sharp, a natural center but a right handed shot, will not continue to play on a line with Kane and Toews this season. If he does I expect his numbers to remain about the same if not improve slightly. Plus he's generally healthy... which puts him high up on the depth chart of righties on this team.
FACT: Sharp's got wheels! He scored seven short handed goals last season.

You Want to Keep an Eye On:
Martin Havlat
Dustin Byfuglien

I give up. Every year I think... this is it. This is the year Havlat doesn't get hurt and every year I inevitably take him in a draft. Every year the same two people in the draft that think like I do say "Havlat... nice pick man." And I say thank you. And then every year for like a month I think I'm a genius. Then he breaks something, or pulls something, or punches someone and hurts himself and thats it for the season for Marty. I'm done with it. He's a point a game most of the time when he's healthy, wanna take bets on how many games that will be this season?
FACT: I will probably still draft Havlat anyway. He's SOOOOO good when he's healthy.

Byfuglien...which if pronounced the way it is spelled sounds like the name for a sexually confused incredbly ugly alien in some other galaxy... is actually pronounced Buff-lin and is, in this galaxy, the name for a confused hockey player who is either a defenseman or a left wing. If Byfuglien (I'm sorry... no yfug-ing way does yfug sound like uff...) plays enough games to qualify at D but is actually a forward... well 45 points is not out of the question for a second or third winger on this team and those points will look good at D. So just pay attention to how this all plays out.
FACT: Byfuglien had 23 points in 38 games prior to the all star game, thats where I get my 45 point number from.

The Defense:

You Want to Draft:
Brain Campbell
Brent Seabrook

So Campbell is going to be good. He's going to put up number one defenseman numbers... somewhere in the mid-50's would be my guess. He'll run the powerplay, be a plus and all around be one of your better choices at the position.
FACT: Remember he had 19 points in 20 games with San Jose when he was playing with a red hot Joe Thornton.

Seabrook is my breakout candidate from a flock of talented defenseman. Why? Because I like you and I don't want you to make a mistake. If Seabrook doesn't up his point totals much above the 32 he finished with last year, he was still a plus AND he racked up nearly 100 PIM, something he's done twice. So I think Seabrook is the safe pick out of the talented youngsters, because no matter what you'll get 4th defenseman value out of him.

You Want to Keep an Eye On:
Cam Barker
Duncan Keith
ah... what the hell James Wisniewski too

I think people saying Barker is the big sleeper this year are reaching. Kieth and Wiskiewski both had great seasons last year, hovering around 30 points, being pluses and even seeing some powerplay time. I think Barker has a lot of depth to break through on this team before he becomes a valuable fantasy asset. There's no doubting the talent that any of these guys possess.

So if you're counting I think 5 of the Black hawks' defensemen are of fantasy interest. Yea I'm saying that. Why do you think I like this team so much? They have five d-men, that we know about, that can move the puck, most of whom are very very defensively responsible. Believe the hype...
FACT: Keith is the most defensively minded of the three, so if you want to take a homerun swing do it with Wisnewski or Barker. Keith is an asset though. Playing in front of a revolving door in net Keith still managed a +30 rating.

The Powerplay:
Jonathan Toews
Patrick Kane
Martin Havlat
Brent Seabrook
Brian Campbell

I think this unit will change as the year goes on... mainly because of Havlat's tendency to get hurt and my insecurity with my choice of Seabrook as the big breakout candidate. This is what I think the first unit will look like at the beginning of the year however... with Lang, Byfuglien and Barker making up the principal pieces of the second unit.

The Goalie(s):

Who eh? Huet! Who eh? Huet! Sorry. In addition to D the Blackhawks are deep at goaltending... right. Thats not good.

Huet is the clear starter on this team, they are however saddled with a 6.7 million dollar backup goalie in Khabibulin. If Khabibulin isn't gone at the start of the season, expect Huet and Khabibulin to start the season in a tandem...so that the Hawks can eventually trade Khabibulin and get some value out of his contract.

So... playing swami here... I predict Khabibulin gets traded no later then three months into the season for some help up front (maybe with a D-man) and Huet gets you around 30 wins while still putting up the spectacular save percentage and GAA numbers that you've by now grown accustom to from the man. Draft Huet... be aware of Khabibulin and maybe hedge your bets late if you've got the roster space.
FACT: Huet played in virtually the same number of games as Khabibulin last year. On a better team he faced almost 100 more shots but still had better statistics in every category.

The Verdict:

You hear me out there in Hawk-land! This is a playoff team. It could be a Stanley Cup team with some creative roster juggling though! Get on that!

Draft Toews and Kane as stars that will be future superstars. Draft Sharp, Campbell, Seabrook and Huet with confidence and watch the rest of the Hawks defensmen, and confused defensemen, with interest.