By Alex Hobson
2014-15 LEADING SCORERS
C Jonathan Toews (28 G, 38 A, 66 P)
RW Patrick Kane (27 G, 37 A, 64 P)
RW Marian Hossa (22 G, 39 A, 61 P)
The outcome of the 2014-15 Chicago Blackhawks season was everything a Hawks fan could have asked for. A solid regular season leading to the ultimate goal for any NHL player, a Stanley Cup. The Hawks finished their season with a record of 48-28-6, good enough for fourth in the Western Conference, and while their team was already stacked, they made a couple of moves to strengthen their roster. The Hawks began the season with a trade, sending defenseman Nick Leddy and goaltender Kent Simpson to the New York Islanders in exchange for defenseman T.J Brennan, goaltender Anders Nilsson, and prospect Ville Pokka. Throughout the year, they made several minor trades, including sending forward Jeremy Morin to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Tim Erixon, trading defenseman Adam Clendening to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for prospect defenseman Gustav Forsling, and capping it off by trading recent acquisition T.J Brennan to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Spencer Abbott. This was it for the minor moves.
The Hawks followed up by trading a second round pick and a fourth round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenseman Kimmo Timonen, and then made their biggest deal of the deadling period, sending defenseman Klas Dahlbeck and their 1st round pick in 2015 in exchange for Antoine Vermette. They capped off their trades by trading Ben Smith along with a conditional 7th round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Andrew Desjardins. Heading into the playoffs, the Blackhawks opened their run against the Nashville Predators, whom they defeated in six games. They then faced the Minnesota Wild in a rematch, where they quickly swept them and moved onto the third round, where they would match up against the Anaheim Ducks. The Hawks would defeat the Ducks in seven games, and finally match up against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final, defeating them 2-0 in game six to win Lord Stanley's Cup. All in all, this was a very productive and exciting season for the Blackhawks.
OFFSEASON
IN
Ryan Haggerty
Corey Tropp
Marko Dano
Jeremy Morin
Artem Anisimov
Artemy Panarin
Viktor Tikhonov
Cameron Schilling
Mike Liambas
Liam Coughlin
Ryan Garbutt
Trevor Daley
OUT
Brandon Saad
Alex Broadhurst
Michael Paliotta
Cody Bass
Daniel Carcillo
Kyle Cumiskey
Andrew Desjardins
Antoine Vermette
Kimmo Timonen
Mac Carruth
Pierre-Cedric Labrie
Spencer Abbott
Johnny Oduya
Stephen Johns
Patrick Sharp
Michal Roszival
Brad Richards
Peter Regin
The Chicago Blackhawks had a very eventful offseason. They kicked things off by trading RFA Brandon Saad along with Alex Broadhurst and Michael Paliotta to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Marko Dano, Corey Tropp, Jeremy Morin, and Artem Anisimov. They did not own a first round pick in the draft, but they used their top selection to select Graham Knott from the Niagara Ice Dogs of the OHL. They went into the offseason and lost several pieces to their cup team, including Brad Richards, Antoine Vermette, and Kimmo Timonen. They also lost defenseman Johnny Oduya and Michal Roszival. They made a couple of small signings, including Cameron Schilling and Viktor Tikhonov, but nothing stood out. They made yet another big trade, dealing Patrick Sharp along with Stephen Johns to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Trevor Daley and Ryan Garbutt. As far as trades and signings went, this would be the last of the big moves made for the Hawks in the offseason.
NEXT SEASON PT 1. OFFENSE
With both Brandon Saad and Patrick Sharp gone, the Hawks have some big shoes to fill. Look for new acquisitions Marko Dano and Artemy Panarin make the biggest effort to play the roles previously played by Sharp and Saad. The offense will more or less be lead by Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa, but with the recent sexual assault allegations against sniper Patrick Kane, the Hawks could likely be missing yet another big name from their offense to start the season.
NEXT SEASON PT 2. DEFENSE
It's no question that the Hawks defensive core will be lead by Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook on the top pairing, with Niklas Hjalmarsson and Trevor Daley supplying the secondary defense. With the departures of Johnny Oduya and Michal Roszival, look for Trevor van Riemsdyk and David Rundblad to challenge for regular roster spots in place of Oduya and Roszival
NEXT SEASON PT 3. GOALTENDING
The Hawks are likely going to go with the tandem from last year that worked best for them. Corey Crawford as their starter with Scott Darling backing him up. Darling proved that he's a solid backup and can be relied on when Crawford is slumping or not availible.
POSSIBLE 2015-16 OPENING NIGHT LINEUP
Andrew Shaw - Jonathan Toews - Marian Hossa
Teuvo Teravainen - Artem Anisimov - Marko Dano
Kris Versteeg - Marcus Kruger - Artemy Panarin
Bryan Bickell - Joakim Nordstrom - Ryan Garbutt
Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Trevor Daley - Niklas Hjalmarsson
David Rundblad - Trevor van Riemsdyk
Corey Crawford
Scott Darling
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