It has now been a full week since the Blackhawks held their annual fluff & fan festival (aka the Fan Convention), where they trot out their newest show ponies and act like everything in the hockey world is alright.
Except that all is not right.
In fact, they were not able to parade out much more than a few old nags in front of the fans at the convention.
That said, let’s all be honest with ourselves. The Blackhawks have a Corey Crawford sized problem. By that, I do not mean to infer that Crawford himself is the direct problem but that they have a Corey Crawford sized hole.
That, everyone, is the problem.
A big problem!
Back in December, when Corey Crawford initially went missing, the Blackhawks seemed pretty confident that Anton Forsberg would be the next great Blackhawks backup goalie to would break through into the conversation as an NHL starter. Before Forsberg it was Scott Darling, then it was Antti Raanta, then it was Ray Emery (RIP), then it was Corey Crawford himself, then it was Antti Niemi.
In theory, the Blackhawks had a pretty good track record when it came to finding suitable (sometimes unknown) affordable backup goalies, so most people were not worried about a short stint on the disabled list for Corey Crawford. Then, just two games into Crawford’s absence, the Blackhawks organization got a little full of themselves and unfurled the “Jeff Glass Experience“. It was a great public relations story that may or may not have been partially massaged to divert the public’s attention from what has tuned out to be an eight month X-files episode.
The problem with their little public relations production was that they built up their Clark Kent, or in this case Jeff Glass, at the expense of Anton Forsberg. His psyche took a huge hit while Joel Quenneville, and the fan base, undermined him for the “feel good” story of the Crash Davis of the NHL goaltending world.
The only reason Glass is still not a huge story is that Scott Foster happened.
Just look at the fan convention just under two weeks ago, in Chicago. Outside of Corey Crawford making his first public appearance in over half a year, Scott Foster getting paraded out for the fans was one of the biggest news items. Essentially, Anton Forsberg has gone from “the next guy” to “the forgotten guy” in a matter of 14 months.
And that Crawford thing certainly went well, didn’t it?
One of the previously mentioned nags made his public debut to Blackhawks fans this weekend, in Cam Ward, as well. The guy that was reportedly brought in to support and backup Corey Crawford suddenly had to shift gears and start to answer questions about whether he could take on 60 plus starts this coming season after Crawford’s first appearance to the media clearly showed that he would not be ready for game one.
Ward probably can take on 60 NHL starts; but he shouldn’t.
Let us all just go out on a limb and speculate that although the Blackhawks have been smug and dismissive about Crawford’s situation, they have known all along the status of their franchise goalie. If, for some reason, they were not completely aware that he was not progressing very well they should all be jobless.
I digress though. Let me give them a slice of credit.
When the draft came (and went), and the free agency period came (and went). Everyone from Rocky Wirtz on down had to be well aware that their hopes of inserting themselves back into contention for a Stanley Cup were centered around a goalie that reportedly suffered a very serious concussion (not his first).
The Blackhawks knew that Corey Crawford was going to miss some significant time and, possibly, could miss a vast majority of the season. They were rolling into free agency with Forsberg, Collin Delia, and Kevin Lankinen under their umbrella while also holding the rights to Wouter Peeter and KHL enigma Ivan Nalimov.
I love Delia and all, but he is not ready to shoulder 60 NHL starts just yet. Forsberg has shown that, while slightly further along than Delia, he is not ready for NHL prime time either and there is that little “PTSD from last season” thing.
Stan Bowman ran out and found his guy, though. A mid-30s goalie who had a hard time holding down a starting job for a decade in Carolina. Call him the “default Carolina goalie.” They tried to upgrade several times and failed. The Canes even ran out last summer and acquired the Blackhawks previous backup phenom to take over for Ward.
To top it off, the Blackhawks probably overpaid for Ward by at least $1 million and (for some reason) gave him a no movement clause.
Why, though?
Michael Hutchinson signed a 1-year deal in Florida for $1.3 million. Petr Mrázek signed a $1.5 million deal in Carolina. A favorite of mine, Robin Lehner, eventually signed a $1.5 million deal with the Islanders.
Those younger, potentially more promising goaltenders took half of the money that Ward did on similar one year “prove it” deals.
The Blackhawks knew that Crawford was not progressing and were only able to bring in the next potential Marty Turco as a safety net, after missing the playoffs and seemingly not addressing much of their other needs either.
Did the Blackhawks give Cam Ward some extra hazard pay and a NMC to take a bullet in a “silent tank” or, in nicer terms, a trademarked “silent rebuild?”
It is beginning to look more and more like that may be the issue.
Why else would the organization not investigate sneaking under the radar and signing an established NHL in their early-to-mid 20s like Lehner or Mrazek? A goalie that could play in Chicago longer if Corey Crawford never sees the ice again or, more likely, never returns to his elite playing level.
Maybe Bowman did investigate these guys. Maybe the Islanders and Hurricanes looked more inviting. I highly doubt that, though.
So, as we sit here in early August, the Blackhawks are potentially set to go into the 2018-19 season with the goaltending duo on Cam Ward and Anton Forsberg. Collin Delia and Kevin Lankinen will seemingly share the net in Rockford. If Lankinen doesn’t end up becoming Lars Johansson, that is. After that, the goaltending depth is an utter mystery.
Crawford only has 2 years remaining on his current contract and if this year is a wash, what is the plan? Is there a plan? There has to be a plan, right?
Looking bigger picture, the team addressed little in the way of other needs, as well, this July. They signed a depth defenseman in Brandon Manning, and another over-the-hill reclamation in Chris Kunitz. I am not spitting hot takes by saying that neither of those players are directly putting the Blackhawks back in the playoffs, much less the Stanley Cup conversation.
Bowman cleared up a nice chunk of cap room a few weeks ago by unloading Marian Hossa’s dead contract. They also, seemingly, tried to fix their center depth issue by re-acquiring Quenneville pet, and similar reclamation project, Marcus Kruger. Another hail mary that has much more potential to bomb than succeed.
But, as John said, what good is this elusive cap space if they don’t use it, or use it after the season is already lost? Which way is up with the Chicago Blackhawks?