Training camp is only a few days away and there are a few roster spots that need to be fought over before the Blackhawks open the season in Helsinki, Finland against the Florida Panthers. Yes, the ‘ Hawks roster is pretty much set, but even Brent Sopel needs to be written about… right? Anyway, here are the position battles.
Third/Fourth Line Winger – Colin Fraser v. Troy Brouwer v. Jack Skille
Marian Hossa’s injury opened up a competition at forward. That battle probably would have gone down between Colin Fraser and Troy Brouwer, but the door is now open for Jack Skille to make the NHL roster out of camp for the second straight year. Kyle Beach and Akim Aliu have an outside shot at the position.
The projected forward lineup before Hossa was sidelined:
Sharp – Toews – Kane
Ladd – Bolland – Hossa
Versteeg – Madden – Byfuglien
Eager – Kopecky – Burish
It’s an unfortunate situation Brouwer and Fraser find themselves in. They spent the majority of their 2008-09 seasons at the NHL level. They are now facing a future that could have them play for Rockford. Fraser found a role on the fourth line, and Brouwer was a rather effective grinder on whatever line he found himself on any given night. Neither will be able to make up for a fraction of the offense Hossa would provide.
Skille, on the other hand, has the ability to be productive where it counts – he can put up points. In fifty-eight games as an IceHog, Skille scored 20 goals and tallied 25 assists.
Prediction: Jack Skille – Coach Quenneville will want to add someone with scoring touch to the third line – with John Madden and Dustin Byfuglien – and move Kris Versteeg to the second line.
Third Pairing Defenseman – Brent Sopel v. Aaron Johnson v. Jordan Hendry
The winner of this position battle will come down to who sucks the least. They will also be part of the third paring with Cam Barker, so there will be a need for a defenseman with speed and the ability to make up for Barker’s mistakes as he still learns the position.
In the handful of games Brent Sopel played last year he was bad. After a decent showing early, Aaron Johnson eventually rode the pine the rest of the year. Jordan Hendry was, umm, reliable I guess.
Prediciton: Brent Sopel – If Sopel isn’t able to cure what ailed him last season, Johnson and Hendry would be better options. Sopel is on the books for cap-hit of $2.33M, however, and that will be the deciding factor.
Backup Goalie – Corey Crawford v. Antti Niemi
The competition to backup Cristobal Huet will be the most talked about position battle going into the season. It’s between career Blackhawk prospect, Corey Crawford, and the Finnish net-minder, Antti Niemi, who has his first exposure to the North American brand of hockey with the IceHogs. Both played for Rockford last year, yet over the course of the season neither Niemi nor Corey preformed noticeably better than the other.
In thirty-eight games Niemi had 18 wins, a GAA of 2.43 and a .913 save percentage. Crawford, in his fourth full season in the AHL, tallied 22 wins, a 2.59 GAA and a save percentage of .917 in forty-seven games played.
There is no front-runner in the race at this point, but in a previous post where I ranked the Blackhawks’ top ten prospects I wrote that I didn’t think Crawford will ever be anything more than career backup. There is a slight Niemi bias on my part regarding the competition of backing-up Huet, but he does offer a higher ceiling than his counterpart.
Prediction: Antti Niemi – The Blackhawks wouldn’t have spent the time and money on the Finnish goalie if they didn’t think he would crack the NHL roster by his second year with the team. Niemi wouldn’t have re-signed is he wasn’t promised the backup gig as well.
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