CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – NOVEMBER 26: Members of the Chicago
Blackhawks celebrate a win over the St. Louis Blues at the
United Center on November 26, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. The Blackhawks defeated the Blues 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
The Chicago Blackhawks are a very bad team. They were mostly outplayed by the New Jersey Devils on Friday but still won because of New Jersey’s horrid goaltending and some good luck on the power play. That win snapped a three-game losing streak (all at home).
Coming into Sunday, they knew they needed to play much better against the St. Louis Blues in order to have a chance. They did not do that and were blown out 4-0 for their fourth loss in five games. It is time to blow this roster up.
When a team like the Blues (a Stanley Cup contender) destroys you like that on a regular basis, you are not even close to being where you want to be. The Hawks had no chance in this game which makes it clear that changes are needed with the roster.
Stan Bowman is the biggest reason for this team’s struggles because he built it but eventually he won’t be to blame anymore. Instead, the newly hired GM (coming soon) needs to move this franchise forward.
The Chicago Blackhawks should be all in on rebuilding their organization.
Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, Brandon Hagel, you name the price. Those are all players that would really help this team move forward in the right direction. Right now, they are stuck because they don’t seem to realize how bad they actually are.
There are some obvious trade candidates on expiring deals and they are led by Marc-Andre Fleury. He is one of the best goalies in the NHL and could really help a playoff team get over the edge. Chicago owes it to Fleury to ship him off to a good team.
It is hard for some people to hear it but this team has no future right now. Kane and Toews are each aging superstars that only have one year left on their deal after this one. DeBrincat is on a steal of a deal for the rest of this year and next but he is going to get a massive pay raise following that.
Seth Jones’ contract is going to be a problem. He has been great this year but the nine million for eight years hasn’t even kicked in. If this team blows it up, that is a tough contract to have on the books. It will be interesting to see how that who thing is handled.
There are plenty of young guys to be excited about but a few of them haven’t hit the ground running. Kirby Dach, Ian Mitchell, and Nicolas Beaudin are all good players but we need more from them if this team is going to see them become a part of their core.
There are a lot of ways to attack this thing but it all starts with the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline. The Hawks will be active sellers as they prepare to build up for the future slowly but surely. Maybe they will get lucky and land a first-round pick back. Regardless of the timing, the roster needs to be blown up entirely in short order.
