One More Time: Should The Blackhawks Add A Top 4 Defensemen Or An Elite Forward

This was the topic of conversation last night again between Pat Boyle, Charlie Roumeleotis, and that other guy on the end. Every time this subject comes up it feels like it’s uninanimous that the Blackhawks need to add a top 4 defenseman this summer and not an offensive weapon like Panarin or additional forward help. It’s starting to drive me a little crazy. They give two main reasons

1) The defense stinks and needs an upgrade desperately

To that I say

The problem is that nobody on the open market really meets the Blackhawks needs. They need a top 4 preferably left-shot defenseman. Who is out there on the market? The only guy is Karlsson. I don’t think he’s leaving San Jose and if he did it’d take 7 years and 10 million dollars. As great as he is…no thank you. I don’t want to pay for what a guy has already done in the league. That’s how you end up with Seabrook-like contracts. You need to find under-valued guys.

Which is why I keep coming back to Ryan Murray. To me he’s the perfect target. He’s an RFA who was a high draft pick and hasn’t really worked out as CBJ would’ve hoped. He’s having his best year this season, but the Jackets are going to have to pay Zach Werenski next year. I am sure they’re going to try to pay Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel. Do they really want to commit to another defensemen? Maybe not.

The other guy who seems to somewhat fit that bill is Jake McCabe. Now, I’ve loved Jake McCabe for a long time. He’s got a little bit of everything you want. He’s probably a borderline top 4 defenseman. Buffalo seems to be committed to the guys they already have back there on the left side with Scandella and Dahlin. I can’t imagine they’d want to pay up for a guy who will be in their 3rd pair. Maybe he fits better here though.

As free agent(both RFA) options, those are my top two. This really comes down to how much you believe in the guys who are on their way. Jokiharju, Mitchell, Boqvist, and Beaudin. I believe in the first two guys a lot and right away. If your defense is broken down like this:

Keith-Jokiharju

Murray-Murphy

Gustafsson-Seabrook

Dahlstrom

That’s not the worst looking group I’ve ever seen. And if Mitchell is so sensational that the Blackhawks can’t keep him out of the lineup then it allows the Blackhawks to trade either Murphy or Gustafsson at some point. Also not the worst thing in the world as neither of those guys are true building block type players.

2) ThE oFfenSe iS fINe

The offense is fine…right now. This year. You’re not adding to THIS team. You are adding to next year’s team. And there is no guarantee that Toews will score 30 goals again. There’s no guarantee that Patrick Kane will have ANOTHER Hart Trophy caliber season. There’s no guarantee that the Powerplay will click at like 40% for half of the year. I love having a top 6 with Toews, Kane, Debrincat, and Strome. That is a great foundation, but those guys need help. The supporting cast needs to be upgraded because if those four guys regress at all then all of a sudden your offense isn’t good enough either.

I don’t think Panarin is coming back. Just a gut instinct. That doesn’t mean that the Blackhawks shouldn’t be looking to add to the forward group. My top choice after Panarin…

If they strike out on Dzingel then I really want the Blackhawks to be a sonofabitch and get nasty in the RFA market because there are a TON of them this year. With the stipulation that the Blackhawks also extend Strome and Debrincat this summer so GMs can’t turn around a be a sonofabitch to the Hawks. If, in theory, you’re willing to give 10 million to Panarin, then why not give it to Mitch Marner or Matthew Tkachuk? Then your foundation is set for the next generation. And yeah you’ll need to give up a SHIT ton of draft picks if you do land one of those guys, but what are the odds that a late first round pick turns into a player who changes your franchise? Almost zero. Add in the fact that you won’t need those picks because you in theory have your top 9 pretty well set and you have Jokiharju, Mitchell, Beaudin, and Boqvist already in the pipeline on defense. Then you have really nice looking support type players like Evan Barratt, Jake Wise, Kurashev, and Hagel who can be useful in your bottom 6. You’re set if the moves are done properly.

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This team is close. They don’t need a big splash on defense this summer because there really isn’t a guy like that to be had. The play is to take that money and get someone you can pencil in for the next run as a key core piece to go with Kane, Toews, Strome, and Debrincat. Wait for the cavalry on defense. Go win the Stanley Cup.