Are the Blackhawks Actually Rebuilding?

When Stan Bowman said Corey Crawford wasn’t coming back, and are going with Colin Delia and Malcolm Subban, it seems to signal a rebuild. Then the next day the Blackhawks sent Brandon Saad to Colorado. It all would seemingly signal a rebuild, but are they really?

One of the goals for the season was to clear up some spots on the blue line for the returning Brent Seabrook and some of the kids. Shipping off Oli Maata was a start but in the Saad trade Chicago took back defensemen Nikita Zadorov and Anton Lindholm. The trade did save Chicago about 1.5 million but what did it accomplish? Bowman traded his best trade chip and got back no picks or young players.

Trading Maata and Saad and letting Crawford walk added up to about 10.5 million dollars in cap space, but Dominik Kubalik signed a two year deal with a cap hit of 3.7 million. That’s a big move that needed to get done but goalie looks weak and the Blackhawks lose about 20 goals a season from Saad. I’m still hopeful for Dylan Strome, who was tendered a contract, Kirby Dach looked promising in his rookie season and Alex DeBrincat needs a bounce back but what is the actual direction for Chicago?

Stan Bowman’s comments have alluded to a rebuild, and so have the players being moved, but is Chicago actually rebuilding? There’s no room right now for another young defenseman to get playing time and Bowman hasn’t acquired any picks or young players. With the suppressed cap situation for the upcoming season also, how many moves does Bowman actually have left?

Crawford signed a two year deal with the New Jersey Devils for a 3.9 million dollar cap hit. That seems like a contract the Blackhawks could have fit in and given themselves competent goal tending for the 2021 season. But it’s a rebuild, alright go through with it. Get as many kids seasoning as you can, but instead Bowman got another defenseman in his prime.

I know it’s blasphemous to even talk about trading Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews or even Duncan Keith, and I don’t want to see them gone, but what’s the direction. If they’re staying in Chicago then Bowman shouldn’t be wasting their seasons. Now, I’m not necessarily saying trade the picks and farm to build a non-playoff team to fringe playoffs, but how about a consistent direction?

Chicago was one of the youngest teams in the expanded playoffs and saw the kids step up but also saw just how far away they were. Another season of that with the defense featuring kids would have made sense as the core of the Stanley Cup teams is their to elevate the team, but instead Bowman is making moves that signal trying to go both ways. Getting another in his prime defenseman without a competent goalie makes no sense. It’s also wasting another season to evaluate any of the prospects to see what you have.

Bowman has put the Hawks in cap hell with no relief in sight and that hinders what he can do, but leadership needs to pick a direction and see it through. Stan is clearly terrified of bottoming out for fear of losing his job in the fans so instead Chicago will be wallowing in no man’s land, not a threat for the Cup and not getting premiere picks.

Calvin de Haan or Connor Murphy look likely to move, possibly both. Speculation, and probably a fantasy, but things got ugly in the post season between Marc-Andre Fleury and Las Vegas. Now that two year seven million dollar cap hit is too much for the Blackhawks but the Golden Knights have been looking for a defenseman in free agency. Could their be a match there that improves the goalie situation for Chicago, gets rid of the locker room distraction and gets Vegas a quality defenseman?

Zack Smith and Andrew Shaw combine for 7.1 million this season, Shaw has two years left, and are both buyout candidates but will Bowman do it? On reason Drake Caggiula wasn’t tendered a contract was because he was similar to Shaw, who is likely unable to be moved. Can he stay healthy? Will Smith contribute anything?

Regardless of what Bowman has said of the direction for the Blackhawks he has put Chicago in a position of having more questions than they started with. Loyalty has been a big reason the Hawks have found themselves in cap hell, see Bryan Bickell contract and subsequent trade of Teuvo Teravainen to move him. Moving on from Crawford seemed like a final change in that but I’m not so sure. I’m not confident in the direction of this team and it likely will mean very little success for the remaining primes of Kane and Toews.