(670 The Score) While some fans and pundits parse exactly what direction the Blackhawks are headed after a flurry of recent activity that included letting goalie Corey Crawford walk in free agency and trading key winger Brandon Saad, general manager Stan Bowman isn't as preoccupied about the terminology of the state of the franchise.
There's no reason to overthink it, Bowman said in explaining that a hockey team doesn't have to be in an all-or-nothing mode. It's fine to be somewhere in between, which is where the Blackhawks reside now.
"The problem here is in the terminology 'full rebuild,'" Bowman said on the Mully & Haugh Show on 670 The Score on Thursday morning. "It appears to mean something different than your description there than what we're talking about. What we're committed to doing is trying to build back up more depth in our roster. It's not like it's one option or another, where you have to remove every player from your team or otherwise it's not a rebuild. You can call it whatever term you want to call it. I think what we're trying to do is build up more depth, because right now we have a lot of good pieces on our team. It's not like we're starting from scratch to make our team back to being one of the top teams in the league. We're headed in that direction, but we don't have enough. And we think the way forward is to incorporate more younger players as well give them the ability to develop. We've committed to doing that. So that's what our focus is. We've been on this path for the last year or two. I think the biggest change is we're being more open with where we're headed."
You can listen to Bowman's full interview below, as he also discussed how veteran stars like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith still fit into the picture for the Blackhawks.
You can also check out 670 host Laurence Holmes' podcast on the Blackhawks' direction below.
