What 'Minor Tweaks' Could Mean June 26, 2012, 3:39 PM ET [716 Comments] John Jaeckel

Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • Archive • CONTACT Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • RSS

Follow me @jaeckel



As I said on the inaugural "HawksBuzz With JJ" Show on Sunday, with each tick of the clock leading up to July 1, it becomes a little less likely the Hawks will move Niklas Hjalmarsson and open the cap space to make a bigger splash in free agency.



Most of the emails and PMs and comments on the message board are pretty negative—most fans don't see the Hawks doing anything of significance, and that they will in fact, just do some minor tweaks.



Which, in turn, begs the question, how does that lead to anything better than a slightly tweaked 6-8 seed that goes out in the first round?



Today's blog—not assuming that the Hawks will be significant players on 7/1 or not—takes a look at that scenario, the slightly tweaked Blackhawks.



Those minor tweaks will likely be a reserve defenseman (like a Matt Carkner or a Stu Bickel), a forward who is effective around the net (like David Moss) and a physical, lower line C/W who can kill penalties (like Daniel Winnik or Jay McClement).



So let's say, conservatively, the Hawks added Bickel, Moss and McClement.



The (crowded) roster then looks something like:



Sharp-Toews-Stalberg

Carcillo-Kane-Hossa

Moss-Bolland-Shaw

Kruger-McClement-Mayers

Bickell

Frolik

Bollig

Hayes



Keith-Seabrook

Oduya-Hjalmarsson

Leddy-Montador

Bickel



Crawford

Emery



So you have a log jam at forward that can be fixed by starting a couple of guys at Rockford, and trading another guy. Done.



But here's my thing on the above roster. It's not leaps and bounds better than last year's. But assuming Marian Hossa and Steve Montador are healthy and ready 10/1 (which the reports say they likely will be), then this is probably a better team than last year's.



Why? Essentially this:



OUT:



Brunette

O'Donnell

Morrison

Lepisto





IN:



Shaw

Oduya

McClement

Moss

Bickel





Overall, you've gotten a little better, faster, younger and more physical. Sure, it's disappointing that you haven't gotten a lot better. But throughout the season leading up to the trade deadline, there's at least some opportunity to do that.



I know. It's not that encouraging, even if it is a little better. Is there any other hope here?



Two X factors, one pointed out by Al Cimaglia on the radio show Sunday, are Marcus Kruger and Nick Leddy, two 2009 draftees with obvious unreached upside. How much better can these two players be in 2012-13? My guess is, with Kruger's disciplined game, his gain will be incremental—he'll come back to the U.S. after a summer of conditioning and physical maturation, and be a bit stronger in scrums and around the net, and he might be better on faceoffs (more on faceoffs in a minute).



Leddy could be a huge difference maker. In addition to faceoffs and being bigger and tougher at forward, the Hawks need to be much better on the power play. Part of that—as Al pointed out Sunday—could lie in giving Leddy a regular role on the point in the man advantage. But some of that is up to Leddy. He has the ability to skate the puck up ice and penetrate the offensive zone as well as anyone in the league. He also has a very strong point shot—accurate and hard. Where Leddy needs to get better, much better, in all zones, is in his decision-making and confidence.



Kruger can make his gains doing heavy dead lifts and gorging on Swedish meatballs. Leddy needs to make his between the ears.



But if they both do as they need to, those could be huge improvements for the Hawks.



Which leads me back to faceoffs. It seems counter-intuitive (and counter-productive) for a self-professed puck possession team to be weak on faceoffs, where puck possession starts. Further, for really the last two seasons, Jonathan Toews especially has been under immense pressure, not just as arguably the league's strongest faceoff guy, but the only strong faceoff guy not named Mayers on the Hawks, to deliver in penalty kill, power play and even strength situations. This is where adding a guy like Winnik or McClement or Ottawa's Zack Smith, while it might not look terribly glamorous, can take some of that pressure to win critical situation draws off of Mayers and Toews.



In much the same way, a full season of Oduya, and the maturation of Leddy, allowing Joel Quenneville to reduce Duncan Keith's minute to about 25 a game, could have a huge, positive impact on the former Norris Trophy winner.



That's the positive vision of a semi-active free agency period. But it also assumes a lot of givens that might not be: the health of Hossa (especially) and Montador, a stable Patrick Kane, and the growth of the aforementioned 2009 draftees.



In his latest piece on My Fox Chicago, Al is correct: he who hesitates as an NHL GM is lost.



What I will add to that, or caveat that with, is this. Stan Bowman, regardless of his own judgment, might simply be caught in a context that makes it impossible to make quick strike moves—a "GM by committee" arrangement that seems to define how the Hawks make bigger personnel decisions.



I'll have more on that after July 1. Until then, I'll bring the updates and new scoop as I hear it.





JJ