Chicago Blackhawks 2017 Season Preview: Draft Utopia

Chicago Blackhawks 2017 Season Preview

Jonathan Toews led Chicago to 3 Stanley Cups. Toews is without a doubt a top 5 player in the NHL and a future Hall Of Famer.

Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 9/27/2017.

Chicago Blackhawks Line 1 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Brandon Saad	Left Wing	82	6-foot-1-inches	206-pounds	24	29	53
Jonathan Toews	Center	72	6-foot-2-inches	208-pounds	21	37	58
Patrick Kane	Right Wing	82	5-foot-11-inches	181-pounds	34	55	89

Chicago Blackhawks Line 2 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Alex Debrincat	Left Wing	63	5-foot-7-inches	165-pounds	65	62	127
Artem Anisimov	Center	64	6-foot-4-inches	198-pounds	22	23	45
Richard Panik	Right Wing	82	6-foot-1-inches	208-pounds	22	22	44

Chicago Blackhawks Line 3 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Patrick Sharp	Left Wing	48	6-foot-1-inches	200-pounds	8	10	18
Nick Schmaltz	Center	61	6-foot-0-inches	177-pounds	6	22	28
Ryan Hartman	Right Wing	76	5-foot-11-inches	183-pounds	19	12	31

Chicago Blackhawks Line 4 Forwards

Player	Position	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Lance Bouma	Left Wing	61	6-foot-2-inches	208-pounds	3	4	7
Tanner Kero	Center	47	6-foot-0-inches	185-pounds	6	10	16
Tommy Wingels	Right Wing	73	6-foot-0-inches	200-pounds	7	5	12

Chicago Blackhawks Forwards Review: Chicago lost Panerin to a trade and Hossa retired as well. Brandon Saad is back in Chicago. This offense has some of their recent draft picks like Nick Schmaltz their 2014 first round pick and Alex Debrincat a 2015 second round pick that I had a first round grade on finally playing for the Blackhawks. How Schmaltz and Debrincat do will determine how successful the Blackhawks are on offense since those are the players that are going under the radar.

The Blackhawks' ranked 9th in goals scored and 19th on the power play in 2016-2017. Chicago needs Schaltz and Debrincat to be assets otherwise their ability to score on the power play will be one of the worst in the league unless their line with Toews and Kane takes care of business on the power play.

Chicago Blackhawks Defensive Lines

Player	Line	Games Played	Height	Weight	Goals	Assists	Points
Duncan Keith	Line 1	80	6-foot-1-inches	200-pounds	6	47	53
Brent Seabrook	Line 1	79	6-foot-3-inches	221-pounds	3	36	39
Connor Murphy	Line 2	77	6-foot-4-inches	212-pounds	2	15	17
Michal Kempny	Line 2	50	6-foot-0-inches	194-pounds	2	6	8
Gustav Forsling	Line 3	38	6-foot-0-inches	186-pounds	2	3	5
Ville Pokka	Line 3	0	6-foot-0-inches	214-pounds	0	0	0

Chicago Blackhawks Defensemen Review: Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are the heart of this defense. The only defender they brought in who is any decent was Connor Muphy. Unless they put those three on separate lines to anchor each line hoping things pan out, Chicago has an even more suspect defense compared to last season. This defense has enough talent to get to the opening round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but relying on Keith and Seabrook is going to limit what Chicago does defensively.

Chicago ranked 20th in goals allowed and 24th in penalty killing in 2016-2017. Chicago could easily be worse in those categories this season.

Draft Utopia Between The Pipes Goalie Tracker

Starting Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Corey Crawford	Chicago Blackhawks	55	32-18-5	2 Shutouts	.918	2.55 GAA

Backup Goalie

Player	Team	Games Played	Record	Shutouts	Save Percentage	Goals Against Average
Anton Forsberg	Chicago Blackhawks	1	0-1-0	0 Shutouts	.857	4.02 GAA

Chicago Blackhawks Goaltender Review: Corey Crawford is a beast behind the net. Anton Forsberg is about the worst backup Chicago could have added. Chicago needs to draft a new goalie to develop for a few years before Crawford declines.

Chicago Blackhawks Prospect Pool: The Blackhawks also drafted Graham Knott a left winger from the Niagara IceDogs with a second round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft on the Rockford IceHogs.

Chicago Blackhawks 2017-2018 Prediction

Chicago lost a lot of talent. There are enough core players to return to the opening round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. I don't see them beating a team like Minnesota or Nashville though.