Artemi Panarin

Chicago Blackhawks Roundtable: West Dangers And Team Starters

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:06 a.m. ET

Fansided, Colin Likas/FanSided via Blackhawk Up

Jan 1, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) skates during practice for the Winter Classic hockey game at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

It’s another edition of the Chicago Blackhawks roundtable, and this one goes near and far two answer a pair of questions

Welcome to another edition of the Chicago Blackhawks roundtable. The Winter Classic game between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues is scheduled for today at noon, though there’s a chance it could be postponed due to rainy weather. (I’m typing this up at about 1:30 a.m., well before the 7 a.m. drop point for a decision on the game.)

Hopefully the game does go down today and it is a good one. But we can’t just be answering questions about the Winter Classic in our Chicago Blackhawks roundtable. After all, that is just one game in an 82-game regular-season.

No, today we’re going to take a look at threats to the Blackhawks, as well as what you might be able to do with some of their key players. That second idea is probably a little vague, so I’ll just reveal our two roundtable questions for today.

Question 1: As the calendar turns, which Western Conference team are you most concerned about (from a competition standpoint) and why?

Question 2: If you had to start an NHL franchise around one of the current Chicago Blackhawks, which one would you pick and why?

Two very different questions with the possibility for very different and interesting responses. Let’s see what the Blackhawk Up crew came up with this week.

Dec 31, 2016; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau talks during a timeout in the second period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

George Clifford

Question 1: Minnesota Wild. After signing playmaking center Eric Staal last summer, Minnesota started the season confident it had the depth of talent to compete for the Central Division title and make some noise in the playoffs.

In early January, their recent 12-game win streak proves the Wild are a most formidable opponent, rolling four dangerous lines in front of a deep, experienced blue line and the league’s hottest goaltender, Devan Dubnyk.

The Wild lead the conference with 113 goals for and only 74 goals allowed, while Dubnyk is the league leader in both save percentage and goals-against average. Only three Wild players have a plus/minus rating of zero or worse.

Question 2: Jonathan Toews. At 28 years old, Toews is still in his prime, and has already proven his ability to lead a team from square one to multiple Stanley Cup championships. One of the best two-way players in the game, he skates in all situations, is a great playmaker and is a perennial league-leader in faceoff wins.

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His engaging, playful personality makes him a fan and media favorite and the perfect face of a franchise. Toews is where the general manager starts. Then you add Corey Crawford, Duncan Keith and Artemi Panarin.

Gail Kauchak

Question 1: The Central Division is still stronger this year than the Pacific Division, with the Chicago Blackhawks currently on top of the West with 51 points. I believe your Stanley Cup Final contender from the West will come from this division (hopefully the Chicago Blackhawks!).

So looking at other teams in the Central Division, I’m tempted to say I’m most concerned with the Minnesota Wild. After all, their recent 12-game winning streak was pretty impressive. And it was only ended by the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are no slouches, having now won 15 games in a row and leading the league.

But if I’m truly honest with myself, it’s the St. Louis Blues that scare me the most. They have Vladimir Tarasenko, who is so dangerous. And they have more experience and confidence now that they beat the ’Hawks last year and went on to eventually lose in the Western Conference finals.

Even after losing some valuable players from last season, the Blues are still a strong and solid team with a crafty coach in Ken Hitchcock. He’s gotten better and better throughout the years at matching up against the Chicago Blackhawks and Joel Quenneville. After all, he’s had lots of practice.

This is a huge rivalry and there is no love lost between these two teams. Ugh! What if the ’Hawks lost to them in the playoffs two years in a row? It’s just not going to happen!

Question 2: Jordin Tootoo. Just kidding. I’m trying to be creative here because I’m afraid we’re all going to have the same answer.

Let’s see. Marian Hossa is just too old. Artemi Panarin hasn’t won any Cups (yet). Patrick Kane, well, he doesn’t exactly have the best reputation off the ice. Seabs and Keith, again too old. Niklas Hjalmarsson appears to like to stay behind the scenes. Crawford? Now there’s a thought. But not many teams get built around the goalie.

I mean come on! How can you compete with Jonathan Toews? He’s an incredible two-way hockey player and an excellent centerman. He’s extremely intense, he has an extraordinary work ethic and he leads by example. He’s a role-model citizen, and as captain of the Chicago Blackhawks, he’s led his team to three Stanley Cups.

I don’t care if he’s in a scoring slump. There’s more than scoring that makes a great hockey player and a great leader. When it comes to a guy like Toews, the intangibles are invaluable. How can you possibly go wrong?

Dec 31, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (88) reacts during a NHL hockey match against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center. The Kings defeated the Sharks 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Colin Likas

Question 1: Full disclosure: I get to see everyone else’s responses to the weekly questions before I provide my answers. I’ll usually try to mix things up if there’s a really popular response. You’ll see that in my answer to the next question.

But I’m not breaking away from the pack just to do it on this one. My answer is the San Jose Sharks as the Western Conference team I’m most worried about moving forward.

Look, Minnesota’s win streak was impressive, no doubt. Devan Dubnyk is playing out of his mind (it’s unsustainable), and there’s balanced scoring and a good defensive unit in front of Dubnyk. This is the group Minnesota thought it had when it faced Chicago in the Western Conference semifinals in 2014.

But the Sharks have all these things too, and their versions are better in key areas. The offense is led by dynamic forwards like Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton. Brent Burns is crazy-effective on offense from the blue line and leads that defensive group as well.

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There are really promising youngsters, too, like Joonas Donskoi and Chris Tierney, and veterans like Joel Ward and Mikkel Boedker can be so much better than they have been this season.

The San Jose blue line is among the deepest in the NHL. Burns, Paul Martin, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Justin Braun, Brenden Dillon and David Schlemko is a pretty tight group. And in front of a rapidly rising goaltender in Martin Jones, who hardly blinked in his first starting playoff run last season, it’s just a scary group.

Sure the point total for the Sharks isn’t soaring like those of other division leaders, but remember: the L.A. Kings have, in the past, come out of this division with an unimpressive point total and steamrolled postseason competition. Fear the Fin (to an extent).

Question 2: The answer is Jonathan Toews. For all the reasons everyone else here said. But let’s have some fun with this, shall we?

There are two other guys in the Blackhawks’ clubhouse who have some noticeable leadership qualities as well. Actually, there are way more than that. But I’m going to point out two: Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson.

Seabs has been credited as more of a silent leader, the one who went in the penalty box and got in Toews’ ear during the 2013 postseason, sparking the captain back to life. He’s apparently a great locker room voice, too. While he’s slowed a bit from his younger days, he’s still a really strong defenseman as well. He’d be an interesting guy to build around.

Hjalmarsson is a fascinating choice. Guys like the Chicago Sun-Times’ Mark Lazerus note that Hjammer gives the most frank and honest quotes when asked questions. He doesn’t candy-coat things, and he seems to have a fantastic sense of how things are going in the locker room and on the ice.

Now, it may seem like it’d be hard to build a franchise around a guy who plays a highly defensive game and lets his body get all bruised and battered for his team. But why? This is all that’s good about old-time hockey, and with Hjammer’s stealthy locker-room presence, he’d be a neat pick.

Toews goes before both of these guys, but I’d be really intrigued to see how a team built around either Seabrook or Hjammer turned out.

Mario Tirabassi

Question 1: The one Western Conference team I am worried about in 2017 is the Minnesota Wild. Great goaltending can get you very far in this league, and Devan Dubnyk is proving to be one of the best in the league. If you add consistent play to that, Minnesota could be dangerous moving forward.