Mid-Season Report Cards - How Are the Blackhawks Doing?

CHICAGO, IL -- I know everyone's doing these nowadays, but I thought I'd give a shot at it. Especially because I don't really watch games for the stats (though I've grown to love numbers), whereas most journalists and hockey experts typically make these entirely stat-filled articles.

There's nothing wrong with that, of course--I just watch the game more for entertainment, so I have a feeling my report cards for the Blackhawks might look a bit different than most.

Anyways, the report cards.

I've kind of made some ground rules, just so I make sure I give everyone a fair shot here. I'm only grading players if they:

1) Have played 15+ games with the Blackhawks this season
2) Are currently under the salary cap
3) Have not been traded away

So, this eliminates Collin Delia (5 GP), Drake Caggiula (3 GP), Brandon Davidson (10 GP), and Carl Dahlstrom (14 GP) from the current roster. I feel like that levels the playing ground a little, and gives me a chance to really reflect on their play so far--I probably could make an exception for Dahlstrom since he's just under 15 games, but we'll play by the rules.

Let's get into these grades, shall we? We'll start at the top.

As:

Patrick Kane (GP: 45, 24-34--58 PTS): A+ (MVP)

It would be incredibly stupid of me not to give Patrick Kane an A here. He's been solid all season, and even when he hits a slump, he's usually still finding ways to get on the scoreboard or at least contributing to the game with a great play. He's on pace to rival his amazing 2015-16 run that found him with 106 points and the Art Ross trophy at the end of the season. He's played the most minutes for forwards on the team, with an average time on ice (TOI) at just under 22 minutes per game. Even at thirty years old, his ceiling is still astronomically high.

Alex DeBrincat (GP: 46, 21-15--36 PTS): A

I don't want to say that Alex DeBrincat is a surprise for me, but he kind of is? I mean, he looked great last season, despite the Blackhawks looking rather pitiful as a whole, but I wasn't sure how his sophomore season would look. It's been fun to watch him play this season, especially on that line with Kane and Dylan Strome. I thought that was one of the better lines Jeremy Colliton has conjured up this season, but it didn't seem to last long--I think a large reason for that was due to the fact that while they were on the ice for a lot of Blackhawks goals, they weren't good enough defensively to keep the other team from scoring. Either way, DeBrincat really does deserve credit where credit is due, and I think it's about time people outside of the Hawks fandom start watching him.

Jonathan Toews (GP: 46, 18-22--40 PTS): A

Talk about a comeback. From an upside-down season last year to being one of the top scorers for the Hawks this season, Jonathan Toews has looked tremendous this year. I've always loved his two-way game, and he certainly put in a lot of effort this summer to get better this season--it's showing. I think he's well-deserving of an A this season so far, just by the sheer amount of milestones he's hit this season, as well as the effort he's put into his play. Our captain is back, and man, am I glad to see him again.

Bs:

Erik Gustafsson (GP: 43, 8-19--27 PTS): B+

Look, I was really close to giving Erik Gustafsson an A on his report card, hence the B+. I think offensively, he's been on fire. He's leading the Hawks D-men in points right now, and he and Kane have insane chemistry together on the ice--that would all be great if he was, you know, a forward. I think in the defensive zone he gets a little tripped up sometimes, and it's often that you see either turnovers or near turnovers from him, which can really bite the team in the ass if they're not careful. He is putting up borderline Duncan Keith minutes, though--his average TOI this season is sitting at about 22 minutes per game, and to give you a point of reference, Keith sits at just over 22 and a half minutes. Overall, I think he's been fantastic offensively, and if he can pick up the defensive bit a little more, he'll be a force to reckon with for this hockey team.

Dylan Strome (GP: 22, 7-7--14 PTS): B

I've gotta say, I wasn't sure what to expect from Dylan Strome when he was traded to Chicago. I knew he was the third overall pick behind Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, and that he hadn't quite been living up to the third-overall-pick status. I can't say he's blown me out of the water over twenty-two games, but I love his chemistry with both Kane and DeBrincat, and I'm hoping once they fine-tune a little, that line can be powerful again. His biggest downside is that he's slow--a problem the Hawks have a little too often--but, I don't think it's kept him out of the game at any point. He's been able to slow the game down for Kane, which is huge, because that's when he's able to really snipe it home. Overall, I think he's done fine, and I'm comfortable in saying that I'd like him to stick around.

Cam Ward (GP: 19, 7-7-4, .889 SV%): B-

I've watched Cam Ward play for a couple of years, living down in Raleigh, and let me tell you--he is very good at bailing his team out. He saved nearly every single Hurricanes game I attended in the two years I watched him down here, and I was pretty stoked for him to come to Chicago. I think he's done alright with the Hawks, and he's certainly bailed them out of a lot of games or at least lessened the severity of the loss. His save percentage (SV%) is kind of meh, and his record doesn't look great, but I think he really has saved a couple of games from being totally disastrous this season. The games that immediately come to mind are the Nashville game a couple weeks ago (not this past week) where they won, and the Winter Classic against Boston. I think he's playing the best hockey he can for his age and skill level, and he made for a pretty solid backup for Corey Crawford--TBD if he or Collin Delia get the honors of starting goalie this season (my guess is they'll split it).

Henri Jokiharju (GP: 33, 0-11--11 PTS): B

Obviously, with Henri Jokiharju playing in World Juniors earlier this month (and taking home gold for Finland!), there hasn't been much to talk about him in the NHL-sense. But, let me tell you--with his stint so far, I'm impressed. I think putting him up on the first D-pair with Keith makes so much sense, and they really do complement each other. I'm hoping now that he's back with the Hawks that he'll finally notch his first NHL goal--he's come close on many occasions, and because he's young, I think he's got a lot of room to grow. Definitely impressed with him this season, and though he's got a few tune-ups to make (who on this D-corps doesn't?), he's one of the best defensemen the Blackhawks have, and he's only going to get better.

Corey Crawford (GP: 23, 6-14-2, .902 SV%): B

Oh, Corey. I know it's hard to really place any kind of weight on Crawford's game at this point, especially since he's been out since December 16th, but we're going to give it a shot. I thought he looked pretty damn good for a guy coming off a 10-month concussion situation--he didn't seem to miss a beat, though his record might suggest otherwise. To be fair to him, the record correlates with the coaching change, and it was a learning curve for the entire team, it seems. He stood tall and made some incredible saves when he needed to, and honestly, he looked like his old self out there. We're all rooting for you to get back at it, Crow.

Dominik Kahun (GP: 46, 6-11--17 PTS): B-

I really, really like Dominik Kahun, and he's one of those guys like Jokiharju where I really wasn't sure what we were going to get out of him? I love him up on the Toews line, and I personally like his style of play a lot. Also like Jokiharju, he's young and still has a lot to learn (both offensively and defensively), but I think he's got a pretty high ceiling, and it'll be fun to keep watching him grow into his game a little more.

Connor Murphy (GP: 16, 1-4--5 PTS): B

Is it weird that since Connor Murphy returned to the lineup the Hawks have gone 7-6-3 since he's been back? Look, if we're being real, it's probably a coincidence and likely has more to do with the fact that the Hawks sent down Jan Rutta and traded away Brandon Manning, but we're going to pretend for just a minute that it's because Murphy's back. He was definitely one of the best (if not the best) guys on the defense last year, and I think with him back, the D corps is going to look a lot stronger in this last stretch. Plus, I love the scrappiness he brings to the team--I think we've been lacking scrappy guys on the team since Andrew Shaw and Ryan Hartman were traded away, so to see him back is pretty great.

Duncan Keith (GP: 46, 1-18--19 PTS): B-

I wavered with where I wanted to put Keith. You know how much I love him, so it was going to be pretty hard for me to give him a C, but it almost happened. There hasn't been anything in Keith's game, though, that I really think warrants a C, to be honest. Playing on that top pairing with Jokiharju seems to have rejuvinated his game, and even at 35, he's a workhorse and is certainly outworking every other player on the team. He is playing about 22 and a half minutes a game, which is just nuts. He finally notched his first goal of the season against Pittsburgh, but even just his assists alone are fairly high on the team's points leader board. Like I said, after the ridiculously terrible season last year, I think he's definitely improved since last season, and as the season goes on, he'll just get stronger. Which is absolutely ridiculous.

Cs:

Marcus Kruger (GP: 39, 4-2--6 PTS): C

I'll preface this by saying that I'm not always a fan when the Hawks bring back players who have played in Chicago before but were with another team for a while. It's too hard for them to get into a different system then be expected to come back and be amazing right off the bat. Marcus Kruger is a great example of that. I like his style of play--he's not afraid to just go straight to the net and he's not afraid to check opposing players to get the puck out of the zone. I think the disappointment here, though, is that he's just not quite hitting the mark. Six points in almost forty games seems just... ridiculously low, and when you're a team that needs scoring depth all the way down through the fourth line, it's not enough.

Brent Seabrook (GP: 45, 4-12--16 PTS): C-

It's no secret that Brent Seabrook is one of my favorite players. He's always been a strong, leading force on the back end, and he'll always be a crucial part of all three of those Cup runs and wins. He's basically the glue of this team, and without him, you don't have three Cups. But, he's been underwhelming defensively for a few seasons now, likely (and mostly) due to his age--unfortunately, his style of play just doesn't age well. Defensively this season, he's been more of a weakness than a threat, which really sucks because like I said, I really love him, and I think he belongs on this team. His offensive production hasn't been too bad, and with that said, I can't tell you how much I love watching him fire clappers towards the net from the center of the blue line. Wouldn't want to be in the way of that shot.

Brendan Perlini (GP: 21, 3-1--4 PTS): C-

I think what the Hawks were hoping for with the Schmaltz/Strome/Perlini trade was to get two players for the price of one, essentially. They certainly have gotten more production out of Strome than they had with Schmaltz, but I think Brendan Perlini has yet to really find his stride in Chicago. He's been bounced around the lineup, a healthy scratch and just overall underwhelming. I loved his play in the Winter Classic, and I think since then he's played a little stronger, but honestly, most nights he just seems to disappear. Until he can get his points production up and his goals against while he's on the ice down, I'm not completely sold on him.

John Hayden (GP: 32, 2-1--3 PTS): C-

I played with putting Hayden in the D category, but he's been pretty noticeable this season when he's on the ice--he's just not producing. He's in kind of the same boat as Kruger--he's noticeable on his shifts, between hits and shots on goal, but he's not producing. With shoddy defense and unstable goaltending, you kind of need everyone to contribute offensively and it's just... not happening from Hayden yet this season.

David Kampf (GP: 42, 3-10--13 PTS): C

Like Perlini, Kampf seems to fly under the radar--some games, I definitely notice him out there on a breakaway or chipping the puck out of the D-zone, but more often than not, he seems absent. I'm not going to give him too much of a hard time, since he's young and still learning, but at the same time, I wanted to see just a little more out of him this season. While his production has been somewhat steady for a third or fourth liner, like I said, he's been virtually invisible out on the ice.

Brandon Saad (GP: 44, 12-12--24 PTS): C+

What an enigma. Brandon Saad's been on fire the past twenty or so games as far as his presence on the ice goes, but his production is way down from where it needs to be, especially if he's spending most of his time on that top line with Toews. The first twenty games, he frankly looked awful. Not scoring, not producing, on the ice for goals against--it didn't look great. But, he's since found his stride a little better, regained his footing, and I think he'll get better as the season progresses. To be fair, his goal tally should be higher--he's hit the goalpost more than any other Hawks player this season.

Ds:

Chris Kunitz (GP: 25, 1-2--3 PTS): D

I'm going to be honest in saying that I wasn't expecting too much out of Chris Kunitz. He's 39 years old and unfortunately, it shows. He's been a healthy scratch for almost half of the season's games thus far, and I'm not confident to say that it'll wane. He did manage to score his first goal of the season last week in the win against the Penguins, but other than that, he's been mostly a defensive issue and, again, invisible on the ice. Do we sense a trend, here?

Jan Rutta (GP: 23, 2-4--6 PTS): D-

I wasn't exactly thrilled when Stan Bowman extended Jan Rutta's contract over the summer. I didn't really think his production or effort on the ice last season warranted an extension, but I thought maybe I was just being to hard on him. No, no I wasn't. I wasn't at all impressed with his defensive skills in his stint up with the Hawks before they put him on waivers, and I think he's probably better playing in Rockford for the rest of the season to maybe learn a little more before the Hawks call him back up. I'm not sold.

Artem Anisimov (GP: 42, 7-13--20 PTS): D

I love Artem Anisimov as much as the next person, but let's be real--he's not been the same since Artemi Panarin was traded. Even then, it's not like he was a world-class center, but the chemistry between him and Panarin was fantastic. I've liked him with Strome and Kane as of late, but the problem is that he's a slower skater. I love when he's down at the net waiting to chip a puck in, but other than that, he seems like more of a liability as each game passes--Bowman either needs to find a way to get Panarin back, or find a way to get Anisimov to another team.

Gustav Forsling (GP: 19, 2-4--6 PTS): D-

Gustav Forsling, oh boy. He's had it rough, battling injuries most of the season, but I think he just needs more time to develop. I'm not sure that he's quite NHL-ready, and like we saw with Alexandre Fortin earlier this year, I think his feet move too quickly for his hands to respond, causing turnovers more often than not. I think he'll make for a great second or third D-pairing, but he's got to get his legs under him first.

So, what do you think? Was I too easy on some players? Too hard on others?

I like to think I'm a fair grader, but I also have emotional attachments to most of these guys, so dishing out some of these were difficult--I had to take my emotions out of it the best I could.

Either way, after the halfway point of the season, the Hawks are sitting at about a 2.42 GPA, which is a little better than average, but just barely. I think they've got some major work to do the rest of the way if they want to make a run at a playoff spot, and I think they'll have to do some retooling at the end of this season if they want to be a contender again next season.

Are you in?