Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
NHL Power Rankings #8: Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are coming off another Stanley Cup winning season that confirms their identity as a modern NHL dynasty. However, every dynasty must have its downfall. The Blackhawks aren’t going to have a complete downfall, but they were forced to lose several excellent players at the expense of keeping Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
They were forced to trade one of the best young forwards in the NHL Brandon Saad to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Despite basically being forced to do so, they actually got a pretty nice haul for him. They got Artem Anisimov, Marko Dano and got back Jeremy Morin. Anisimov is an underrated center who should help make up for the losses of Brad Richards and Antoine Vermette. Dano is an extremely talented forward who could immediately replace Saad.
In trading Patrick Sharp to the Dallas Stars, they got back Trevor Daley and Ryan Garbutt. Garbutt is a very solid center who should provide Chicago with forward depth. They also lost steady defenseman Johnny Oduya to the Dallas Stars. They still haven’t signed restricted free agent Marcus Kruger either.
Despite all of this, the Blackhawks are still going to be an excellent team. However, things could get ugly if Patrick Kane is suspended or the Blackhawks decide to trade him. But hey, some things are bigger than winning.
Next: #7