(670 The Score) As several teams made the impact moves they felt they needed ahead of the NHL trade deadline Monday afternoon,
the Blackhawks stood pat. With that in mind, I'm breaking down the pros and the cons of the Hawks not making a move and what it means moving forward.
THREE UP
Corey’s coming: The biggest "move" that the Hawks made Monday was
activating goalie Corey Crawford, who had been sidelined with a concussion since mid-December. From all reports, Crawford is feeling great and is champing at the bit to get back in the net. It’s almost impossible to predict how he’ll look after such a long time off, but when Crawford returned early this season, he was excellent. I’m not sure Patrick Roy is his prime would look great behind this Chicago defense, but Crawford is still a franchise-level goalie, and the Hawks are better with him. I’ll be curious to see how coach Jeremy Colliton splits up the workload between Crawford and Cam Ward. If Crawford is cleared to play, he’s cleared to play, right? Still, the Blackhawks might be tempted to split the starts from here on out.
Stay off the bus, Gus: Erik Gustafsson has been a revelation (offensively) this season. He’s having a breakthrough season (offensively) and has really turned some heads (offensively) around the league. He’s seventh in scoring among NHL defensemen and along with Patrick Kane has been a huge reason for the team’s potent power play. There were reports that several teams were calling the Blackhawks looking to trade for Gustafsson, but the team had no interest in moving him. If the Hawks can get his defensive game to an NHL level (it’s not yet), then he could be a tremendous asset.
Winning trades: Although he was quiet at the deadline, general manager Stan Bowman’s trades have all worked out this season. Crafty center Dylan Strome has been an absolute revelation with 37 points in 39 games since being acquired by the Blackhawks from the Coyotes. Nick Schmaltz, who went to Arizona in that trade, got off to a good start with his new team but suffered a season-ending injury. Drake Caggiula has spent time on the top line with Jonathan Toews and Kane and while his points haven’t piled up, he has fared better than the player the Blackhawks sent to the Oilers -- defenseman defenseman Brandon Manning was benched, waived and then sent to to the AHL.
Slater Koekkoek has been a pleasant surprise since joining Chicago after Jan Rutta was sent to Tampa in return. I’d rather see Henri Jokiharju playing in his place (more on that in a bit), but as far as bottom-three defensemen go, Koekkoek has shown some potential. It never hurts to have options, and the Hawks have a lot of defensive options in the system.
THREE DOWN
Missed opportunities: The Blackhawks had a big opportunity this past weekend to gain some ground in the standings and help solidify themselves into a playoff spot. Instead, they dropped back-to-back games, 5-4 to the Avalanche on Friday and 4-3 to the Stars on Sunday. One has to wonder if Bowman’s mindset at the deadline might have been different had they won at least one of those games.
Lesson learned?: It never really seemed likely that Duncan Keith and/or Brent Seabrook would waive their no-trade clauses ahead of the trade deadline. Hopefully at this point, Bowman has learned the lesson that not every rostered veteran deserves a no-movement clause. Players like Artem Anisimov, Marcus Kruger, Chris Kunitz and Ward may have been pieces who could've fetched a draft pick while also clearing significant cap space in some cases. It’s understandable to reward longtime Hawks standouts with no-movement clauses, but to give it to every veteran who signs on the dotted line is foolish and limits your ability to adjust and upgrade the roster.
What a joke: I’m not really sure what to make of how the Blackhawks are handling top prospect Jokiharju right now. He showed well to start the season and while his productivity has slowed down, there's no question that he’s one of the franchise’s top six defensemen. The Blackhawks will tell you they want him playing at AHL Rockford, logging big minutes, playing in every situation and gaining confidence. While I can buy that a little, isn’t the experience of a pseudo-playoff chase valuable for him as well? Isn’t playing against better, faster, smarter opponents going to accelerate his development more than dominating a bunch of mostly has-beens and never-will-be's?
Jay Zawaski is the executive producer of the Bernstein & McKnight Show on 670 middays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m and a columnist for 670 The Score. He's also the co-host of the Madhouse Chicago Hockey Podcast, which is available on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify or your preferred podcast app. Follow him on Twitter @JayZawaski670.
