Chicago Blackhawks: What will defense look like in 24 team playoff?Vincent Pariseon May 24, 2020 at 12:43 pm

Duncan Keith–Adam Boqvist

Calvin de Haan–Connor Murphy

Olli Maatta-Ian Mitchell

Those pairs are so much better than most lineups they have had all season long at the position. Brent Seabrook won’t be healthy enough to play but de Haan will for sure be back if this thing happens. Maatta is a bit of a risky player to have on the ice at times and we don’t know for sure how long it will take for Mitchell to become an impact player but it could be a nice third pair if used right. They still have Keith there who knows exactly how to handle something like big minutes in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The issue with this group is the opponent. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have a combined 207 points this season. They are lethal together on the power play and can either play together at five on five or be the center of two separate lines, depending on how the game is going. If this Hawks defense plays like it did in the regular-season and they are in fact matched up against the Oilers, they could have a short series.

This isn’t a good defense, in fact, it was awful in the regular season but adding Mitchell from college and getting de Haan back from injury would certainly be a nice boost. You never know with Corey Crawford in the net but this defensive group here could be hit or miss in a five-game series. There is also that Patrick Kane guy with his friend Jonathan Toews for the Oilers to worry about despite what might be a poor defense.