It pays to have experience.
This holds for most teams in the NHL. For the Chicago Blackhawks, it certainly seems to be how GM Kyle Davidson conducted his business this past summer.
Tyler Bertuzzi, Alec Martinez, TJ Brodie, Ilya Mikheyev, and Pat Maroon bring experience to the Blackhawks.
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But sometimes, teams must let go of those experienced players to turn over a new leaf for the franchise. This happened in the summer of 2021 when the Blackhawks traded away veteran defender Duncan Keith.
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Keith had an incredible career. He was a true workhorse as his career average of time on ice per game was 24:41. In his rookie season, he was already playing 23 minutes a night.
In his last season in the league, he played for the Edmonton Oilers alongside superstar Connor McDavid. It appears that Keith was able to pass down some advice before announcing his retirement.
In speaking with the media yesterday after practice, McDavid revealed how other veteran players have impacted him.
“I think of Duncan Keith (and) learning off of him,” McDavid stated. “He’s played in every single big game there is to play in. How he conducts himself, how he handles himself every day.”
“Learned a lot from a guy like him.”
If the Amazon Series taught hockey fans anything, McDavid lives, breathes, and bleeds hockey. Undoubtedly, a player who thinks about the game that much also tries to learn as much as he can from the more experienced players around the league.
For current Blackhawks fans, let’s hope Connor Bedard can talk about one of Bertuzzi, Maroon, Martinez, Brodie, or Mikheyev in the same light.
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