Team: 2023-24 Chicago Blackhawks

Initial Creation Date: May 23, 2023

Published: May 23, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Another “What I would do” post. First and foremost remember I am a 3rd party observer and die-hard fans might disagree with what I say.

Firstly I’m gonna say that this is putting personal biases aside. Honestly, I don’t think CHI should have been gifted Bedard, I don’t even think they should have a first-round pick this year. But the NHL is run by clowns who never seem to get it right, can’t blame CHI for that.

Also, CHI fans deserve some optimism. I do feel bad for them.

The goal for CHI should be to look at opportunities where they can maximize the cap leverage they have. By taking on salary dumps they can get assets, and potentially buy out some players.

Question marks:

- Goalie: Is Mrazek staying for another year? I don’t think so. His injury concerns are too much of an issue. If you want to develop Söderblom (which I’m assuming they do), the last thing you want is the goalie who is supposed to be sheltering him to go down with an injury. So I would buyout Mrazek and target a FA vet goaltender.

- LD: Defence altogether is undoubtedly the biggest concern looking at this team. You have two budding young players coming in on the left side but that right side really does not enstill confidence. You need a smooth-skating LD who plays a good two-way game that can pair with Jones (fill McCabe's void), they need to be defensively responsible.

- Forwards: You’re really waiting on young players to break through while being left with excess mediocrity. Genuinely a forward group made up of players that would be fighting for the bottom six roles in a competitive organization. Bedard’s early years will be reminiscent of McDavid’s. It’s a group you’d like to add to but it's really not the FA crop for targeting massive additions, it’s full of depth which is what Chicago already has.

Trades:

- Kulak/Yamo: This trade is really broken down into two trades in one. The Oilers are looking to shed cap and Yamamoto will be a casualty of this. So the first part of the trade is Yamo and a second (2024) for Entwistle, CHI sends back a cheap bottom six player, of which they have an abundance for taking on the cap. Yamamoto will play in the top 6. The second part of this trade amounts to Kulak and Tullio for a 3rd. The Oilers decision on cutting cap will likely come down to Kulak and Foegele, given they have Broberg I chose Kulak. He’d be a great fit for CHI. Two-way smooth skating defenseman who is cheap with term (they could look to retain and flip his contract), he also has experience having to be defensively responsible while playing with offensive minded partners (see Bouch/Barrie). Tullio (a former 4th) gives organizational depth on the right side. And the third amounts to being the 8th pick Chicago will be making in the draft. They’re maximizing cap space and organizational depth to fill organizational holes.

- Matt Murray. It's likely that Toronto will again be in the market to salary dump their goaltender so why not run it back? Last time Toronto dumped Mrazek for a 13-spot trade back. Murray is a worse goaltender than Mrazek, is constantly injured, has an NTC limiting where they can send him, and has a higher AAV than Mrazek. The Leafs are also in a much more limited cap position and I’m sure whomever the GM they bring in is, he will be looking to gain cap flexibility to retain other FA's they have. Leafs move back 27 spots and give up the 7th-ranked prospect in their system at the cost of gaining over 4 million in cap space. Chicago obtains a third 1st in 2023 and a skilled offensive forward who’s committed to playing with their current top prospect at Michigan, Frank Nazar. They immediately buy out Murray for much of the same reasons they are buying out Mrazek, inconsistent/injury-prone/surplus cap/better options/etc.

Now for the bug addition, they are getting a generational talent 1C. We all know Bedard will go first overall but I mocked their entire draft.

Draft:
#1 - Connor Bedard C (Franchise Player)
#19 - Riley Heidt C (Skilled Playmaking fast Centre, Top 6 C Projection)
#28 - Tom Willander RD (Great Skating Two-Way RD)
#35 - Michael Hrabal G (Insurance if Commensso/Söderblom don't develop, long way away big frame)
#44 - Charlie Stramel C (Power Forward C I see as a RW in NHL)
#51 - Danny Nelson LW (Power Forward, Big Two-Way player)
#67 - Andrew Gibson RD (Big, Physical right shot D)
#99 - Jakub Štancel LW (Big two-way forward, nice release)
#131 - Michael Emerson RW (Over-ager playing at ND next year)
#195 - Kalle Kangas LD (Big physical defensive dman)

RFA’s:

AA: I’m bringing back AA because he finished off the year strong and as bad as it sounds Chicago has to find guys to pay just to get to the floor, even slightly overpaying for AA he’s gonna play in their top 6 and was trending the right way to end the year. Kind of “Why not’.

Kurashev/Bjork/Anderson: Depth wingers I could see getting in or being in the press box any night. They all fit the role of being stop-gap players before prospects graduate. I do like Anderson playing the PK so he draws in before Bjork. Kurashev starts on the left.

UFA’s:

I don’t see them attracting any big-name players. Gavrikov would fit in well for them but he won’t come to Chicago. I made the Kulak trade because I was contemplating signing Soucy but figured he likely wouldn’t pick Chicago either.

Semyon Varlamov: A steady veteran, proven goaltender, who lost his starting role to a young superstar. The hope is he can come in and either mentor Söderblom or Commesso to be the goalie of the future. Nonetheless, he instills much more confidence than Mrazek/Murray and is a realistic FA option they could sign.

Max Domi: From all I’ve heard Domi really enjoyed his time in Chicago and Chicago fans really enjoyed him as a player. The best season of his career came in Chicago it finally feels like the right fit for him to build a home.

Aaron Dell: Organizational depth to backup Commensso in the AHL. Also, insurance if Varlamov does go down with injury Söderblom won’t be thrown in the fire.

Let me know what you think and what you’d change.

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