Photo credit: ESPN
GM Kyle Davidson went bonkers today, as he made some major signings during free-agency.
As they brought back an old Blackhawk to the lineup, and also added some muscle in addition to Nick Foligno.
” Projecting the Blackhawks’ 2024-25 Opening Night lineup after a busy Day 1 of NHL free agency ”
Projecting the Blackhawks’ 2024-25 Opening Night lineup after a busy Day 1 of NHL free agencyhttps://t.co/F9DdVbKIX4
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) July 1, 2024
Addition not only Laurent Brossoit to the stable of goaltenders, giving the position some consistency, he added Pat Maroon, and prior to the start of free agency, Ilya Mikheyev.
He strengthened defense, with the addition of the former King and Golden Knight Alec Martinez, a solid top-4 defender to shore up a weak blueline.
Kyle Davidson’s goal was to make the team competitive and today he did so, making training camp a fierce competition for spots come September.
Here’s an idea of what the lineup could look like in 2024:
Forwards
Tyler Bertuzzi — Connor Bedard — Philipp Kurashev
Taylor Hall — Andreas Athanasiou — Teuvo Teravainen
Lukas Reichel — Jason Dickinson — Ilya Mikheyev
Nick Foligno — Ryan Donato — Pat Maroon
Extras: Joey Anderson, Craig Smith
Defense
Alex Vlasic — Seth Jones
Kevin Korchinski — Alec Martinez
Wyatt Kaiser — Connor Murphy
Extras: Isaak Phillips
Goalies
Petr Mrazek
Laurent Brossoit
Bertuzzi will likely be on the top line, come opening night as he has the sandpaper to Bedard’s finesse. He could be the lynchpin to really give the Blackhawks the ferocity they need.
Frank Nazar, Landon Slaggert could end up in Rockforce, as they still have to acclimate to the NHL style of play. Their small taste of NHL play gives them an idea of the mentality needed to thrive in the NHL.
The fourth line, is a lot slower, but still a heavy checking presence with Foligno and Maroon. The kind of grit you need to win with.
Vlasic and Jones have a great chemistry we all saw last season and wouldn’t want to break it up.
Pairing Turbo with Hall is a smart way of helping Hall find his game again, even if eventually Teraveinen will find his way on the top line, but breaking up Kurashev and Bedard is a bad idea right now.
Petr Mrazek will of course, be the starting goalie, as he kept the Blackhawks in games they had no business being in last season.
Source: Hawksinsider