While the core philosophy of Kyle Davidson has remained unchanged, and his commitment to the development of younger players remains paramount, it is clear that roster changes next season are needed. This offseason the Blackhawks need to add a high-quality veteran defenseman to help usher the young players into more prominent roles within the organization.
Last season the Chicago Blackhawks faced many challenges in the inaugural season of the “Connor Bedard Era.” You can point to the glut of injuries, lack of scoring, general lack of depth, and inexperience throughout the lineup as the reasons for the Hawks’ abysmal record.
However, I will be focusing on a particular issue that this team faced last season and look at ways that the team can address the problem. Today we will be discussing the lack of quality depth defenseman in the Hawks organization, and the need to add a versatile veteran defenseman this offseason.
Our own Ethan Gawronski recently published an article discussing three realistic free agents for the Hawks to target, and I highly recommend reading that one! His inclusion of Matt Roy as a target makes a ton of sense and he is a guy I would love to see on the Hawks. However, I will be looking at three “less than realistic” defensemen to target because why not shoot for the moon and land amongst the stars… “Stars”… It’s called foreshadowing ladies and gentlemen…
Obviously, injuries played a role as both Seth Jones and Connor Murphy missed significant time. However, the injuries only exposed a deeper issue with Kyle Davidson’s roster construction in my opinion. Davidson relied far too heavily on the development of young players last season as depth for the team.
While this strategy worked wonderfully in the case of Alex Vlasic, who consistently was the Hawks’ best true defenseman last season, it was a greater struggle for Kevin Korchinski as he adjusted to the rigors of a full NHL season.
Furthermore, the defensive “depth” of Jared Tinordi and Nikita Zaitsev was wildly underwhelming. While you can argue that those guys only played prominent roles due to injury, I still believe that most teams build into their roster construction the possibility of injuries, and Kyle Davidson swung and missed in this area.
The defensive depth must be better next season, and I will briefly highlight three possible free agents who could immediately improve the Hawks’ defense and aid the younger players like Nolan Allen, Wyatt Kaiser, and Ethan Del Mastro as they transition into more prominent roles on the Hawks’ defense.
Tyler Myers (RD, 34 years old, 6’8 and 229 lbs)
Tyler Myers would be a very on-brand signing for the style of hockey that Luke Richardson loves for the Hawks to play.
Myers is a human wrecking ball, hitting anything and anyone that has a pulse, and imposing his will on the ice with his towering height and intimidating attitude. While he won’t add much offense, his defensive awareness and experience on the penalty kill make him a desirable addition to the Hawks’ bottom four defenseman.
I believe that Myers fits exactly what the Hawks are looking for in a depth defenseman. He has experience, aggression, and has been a reliable defensive defenseman throughout his career. Essentially, Myers would only be asked to fill the Jarred Tinordi/Jaycob Megna role from last season and I believe that he would represent a significant upgrade in talent and ability from those players.
I do believe that Myers’ age may be concerning to some, but at the same time, another veteran voice is very welcome in a locker room full of young defensemen.
Myers is also unique in that he is likely to demand a far smaller contract than the $6.0 million per year that he was getting on his last deal. However, If Myers doesn’t want to take a significant pay cut to stay with the Canucks or to go to a contender then I could see the Hawks offering him a one-year deal at his same $6 million value (or maybe a hair less at $5.5 million) to convince him to spend a year knocking players off their skates just to warm Luke Richardson’s heart.
Chris Tanev (RD, 34 years old, 6’2 and 197 lbs)
This one would be an ideal fit for the Hawks as Tanev checks off all the boxes of what Davidson should be looking for in a defensive improvement.
He is a veteran with 14 years of NHL experience. He has played both in a top-line role as well as a depth role. He is consistently one of the NHL’s best defensive defensemen and has only been a minus in one season (2015-2016 Vancouver Canucks).
Tanev would bring a voice to the locker room that the young defenseman would revere and a grittiness and toughness that Luke Richardson would love. Despite not being offensively gifted, (Tanev’s best offensive season saw him post just 6 goals) he is the shutdown depth defenseman that the Hawks desperately needed last season. I still believe that Tanev has several great years left in the tank if he is played in a more limited role.
The big question mark here would be if Tanev is willing to come to a team that realistically will not give him a shot at winning the Stanley Cup during his tenure here. If Davidson can persuade him, it will be with a lot of zeros.
Remember, the Hawks will enter the offseason with $32.94 million in cap space, so they can certainly afford to offer Tanev more than any other team. Tanev had been making $4.5 million the past few seasons. I would think that for the Hawks to convince him to come, we would need to offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 years at $6.0 million.
If Tanev can be convinced to play out the twilight years of his career in a great hockey city, and on a young up and coming Chicago Blackhawks team, then this signing makes all the sense in the world.
Ilya Lybushkin (RD, 30 years old, 6’2 and 205 lbs)
This one is a pipe dream as I’m fairly certain that the Maple Leafs loved what they saw from Lybushkin in his time with the team last season, and that team is desperate for a right handed defenseman.
However, my thinking here is that the Maple Leafs will need to resign so many players this offseason (Max Domi, Tyler Bertuzzi, Joel Edmundson, Ilya Lybushkin, etc) that they will likely lose some of those players in the process. And again, the Hawks have the depth of wallet needed to pry away a good player like Lybuskin from Toronto.
Lybushkin fits the mold of a “Luke Richardson Defenseman.”
Adjectives that describe his play would be, Big, mean, aggressive, and ugly. Those bulldog-like characteristics make Lybushkin a prized depth defenseman in the NHL, and I think that he would bring a certain toughness and nastiness which I felt was missing from the team last season. Sure Tinordi would drop the gloves, but Lybushkin will drop the gloves and play well enough to warrant being in the lineup! (Sorry Jarred, you seem like a great guy and I did love watching you fight!)
Where Lybushkin really fits in my opinion is in a bottom-line role alongside a puck-moving defenseman like Wyatt Kaiser for example. Lybushkin’s solid defense and strong situational awareness make him an ideal partner for a young offensively talented defenseman.
Again, to pry him away from Toronto and convince him to sign with a rebuilding team would likely cost some extra money, but the Hawks have that.
Couple that with a coach that I believe is perfect for Lybuskin to thrive and it is a terrific fit. I would expect a contract for Lybushkin with the Hawks to be somewhere in the Neighborhood of 3 years at $3.75 million. That would be a significant raise from his last contract (2 years at $2.75 million) and I think it would be enough to get him on the squad for next season.
Any one of these three players would provide an immediate and desperately needed upgrade to the Hawks’ defense for next season. I am hopeful that Davidson’s end-of-year press conference, where he spoke of the need to improve the team and to climb in the standings, will translate to him signing a player to improve the defense.
If the Hawks were to get any of these three players under contract, I would feel far better about the Hawks depth for next season and beyond.