(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
The Chicago Blackhawks are already looking forward to next year but there are a few players who need to have a strong finish to this year first.
The Chicago Blackhawks are looking to have a strong finish to the season. They are currently six points out of the playoffs as March gets underway so there is still an outside chance they make it. Whether or not they do remains to be seen but it is unlikely. With that said, they might as well try. Guys like Patrick Kane, Dominik Kubalik, and Jonathan Toews are having really good years but in order for them to get back into the race, some other players are going to need to step it up.
They were already sellers at the deadline. They traded Robin Lehner to the Vegas Golden Knights and Erik Gustafsson to the Calgary Flames. That tells everyone that they are more worried about the future and that is the way it should be from an organizational standpoint. With that said, good luck getting the players to think about the future.
All of the players in this organization are fueled to be much better as a team. There are still some of the core players there from the teams that won the Stanley Cup three times in six years. Those guys know what it takes to win and you’d have to think that they preach that at the younger players. That should motivate the ones who are not champions to follow in their footsteps. If they were to make the playoffs this year, it would be a great story of resiliency.
They can go for it all they want. Whether they make it or not, the most important thing is building for the future. They have some key future pieces in place but they need to keep building. For them to keep building, these three players need to finish 2019-20 strong: