In hindsight, it was not just unnecessary, it was too soon for the Chicago Blackhawks to add all of the mid-tier talent to their lineup this past off-season. Similar to last season, the team sits at the bottom of the standings and can’t score.
There was a head coaching change and a number of underperforming veterans. General manager Kyle Davidson wanted to make the prospects work for a spot rather than being handed a spot like last season. Neither strategy has worked as now the Blackhawks have to either off-load the more experienced players to make room or send them down.
So far, multiple more experienced players have been waived to now make room for prospects. Colton Dach is the latest and is set to make his anticipated NHL debut.
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Andreas Athanasiou was already sent down to the AHL earlier this season, but Joey Anderson is the latest to get the waive for Chicago to call up Dach who has scored 12 goals and recorded 25 points in 30 games.
Frank Nazar and Colton Dach aren’t the only prospects who had to really prove themselves this season to get the callup, but the Blackhawks are finally heading in a direction that can benefit them for the future. The team started with too many veteran players for a rebuilding team. While the expectation was to take a step forward from last season, not many young players got to be a part of that from the get-go.
The next step after calling up Dach is to give him an opportunity to succeed. Following that, the Blackhawks must move out some of the veterans they brought in. The easiest to go are those on expiring contracts.
The most obvious of the bunch would be Taylor Hall, Craig Smith, Pat Maroon, and Alec Martinez. This would allow Cole Guttman, Landon Slaggert, and Kevin Korchinski to get more NHL playing time to lead into next season.
The sooner the Blackhawks start making more moves to direct attention to the future, the better. This means even making moves well before the trade deadline as some teams are always willing to do so. Doing so will open more opportunities for prospects in the AHL right now to play higher in Rockford’s lineup as well.
The Blackhawks can’t be rebuilding for too much longer with the talent in their system and already on their team. This won’t change by continuing to load the roster with veterans either. Chicago is starting to head in the right direction and correct the start of the season, but we’ll see how smart the decisions are moving forward.
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