Honey… What About Bob?!
When I was thinking about this article, I couldn’t help think about the early 90s, Bill Murray classic “What About Bob?” A mentally unstable Bill Murray (Bob) ends up stalking his therapist (Richard Dreyfuss – Dr. Leo Marvin) and following the Doctor and his family to their vacation home. Dr. Marvin’s family falls in love with Bob and his antics, despite Dr. Marvin’s every wish.
Well worth a watch if you haven’t seen it, but I digress. The family shouts “What about Bob?!” every time that Bob goes missing.
At this point in the Blackhawks offseason, the only lingering question I have is, “Guys, What about Toews?”
The beginning of the offseason started with bang. Hawks needed to move salaries to get cap compliant, as well as make some necessary additions, and pay some necessary raises.
Andrew Shaw, Bryan Bickell, and Tuevo Teravainen were all traded to make room against the Cap. Andrew Ladd was let walk after being acquired at the trade deadline, as were Tomas Fleischmann, Christian Ehrhoff, and Dale Weise.
The Blackhawks have brought in Michal Kempny from the KHL and brought back free agent (and 2010 Blackhawk Cup winner) Brian Campbell to sure up a defense that was weak for the past 2 or 3 years. The addition of Kempny and Soupy should alleviate some of the heavy minutes that have tolled Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Nik Hjalmarsson.
At forward, the Hawks resigned Brandon Mashinter and Richard Panik. They also made a low cost move of signing known agitator Jordin Tootoo.
To this point, the Hawks have fixed a big issue that has plagued them for years. NHL quality depth on defense. But cap casualties have lead to some questions at forward.
Last season saw Jonathan Toews playing with Marian Hossa and a rotating cast of Left Wings. Panik, Ladd, Shaw, Teravainen, and Marko Dano all were given a shot to play with the pair of Hall of Famers. Ladd gave them a consistent presence on the LW after the trade deadline.
Going into the 2016-2017 Blackhawks season, the consensus is that both wings on either side of Toews are open. Hossa, after a down year, might be seeing more reps on the third line with Marcus Kruger. It will give Hossa a chance to bum slay with Kruger, and provide a very solid shutdown defensive line.
But Guys, What about Toews? Some people have Panik playing LW next to Toews. Please remember, Panik was released out to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, a team that ended up with the worst record in the NHL. Now, maybe Mike Babcock missed the boat on Panik, and he develops into a solid NHL player. But immediately assuming that he is going to grab the first line LW by the short ones might not be the best bet…
Other names have been thrown around: Ryan Hartman, Nick Schmaltz, Jimmy Vesey, and Juri Hudler.
Hartman is cut from the mold of Andrew Shaw, and might be served to play his first full season in the NHL on the 3rd or 4th lines.
Schmaltz hasn’t played outside of the NCAA. Immediately jumping to the top line of a perennial Stanley Cup winner might not be in the cards for success.
Vesey won the Hobey Baker Award in 2016. He has until August 15th to sign with his drafted team, the Buffalo Sabres. After that, Vesey becomes a free agent, and we all know Stan Bowman loves his College Free Agents (see: Trevor van Riemsdyk, Kyle Baun, Drew LaBlanc). But similar to Schmaltz, he’s never played outside of the NCAA.
Hudler had a down year last year split between Calgary and Florida (46 total points). However, he’s only a year removed from a 2014-2015 campaign with Calgary where he put up 31 Goals and 45 Assists. Hudler is still a free agent, and from all accounts, wants to give the Blackhawks a shot. But at this point in his career, can Hudler play LW next to Toews?
NFL Football Preseason starts this Sunday. NHL Training Camp and Preseason is just around the corner. The Blackhawks brass went out and addressed the biggest need over the past 2 or 3 years, and did it quickly.
But friends, what about Toews?
