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There are many reasons why the Chicago Blackhawks' Blackhawks Series came to an abrupt end in the 2017-2018 season.
These reasons included, but were not limited to, the fact that Jonathan Toews began to slow down offensively (do not deny it, it happens) with several other main players who join him.
Marian Hossa's career ended abruptly.
The reception desk did not like the business that saw them send Artemi Panarin to Columbus for a meeting of Brandon Saad.
But the biggest problem was probably the fact that starting goaltender Corey Crawford was limited to just 27 games and none of the five – yes, five! – the goalkeepers they've used in a bid to replace him in order to provide the team with something that is close to what the NHL can do better.
The numbers speak for themselves: with Crawford in the lineup, the Blackhawks got a record of 16-9-2, a record that would have allowed them to reach a pace of 103. points in 82 games. The Crawford .929 save percentage, which was among the best in the NHL, was an important part of it.
Without him in the lineup, they only had 17-30-8, a record that would have put them on a pace of 65 points in 82 games. In other words, one of the worst teams in the league. The combined .902 stop percentage of Anton Forsberg, Jean-François Berube, Jeff Glbad, Collin Deila and Emergency Substitute Scott Foster (to be fair, he stopped the seven shots he's faced!).
On Wednesday, Berube was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Obviously, the return of a healthy Crawford will be an important factor in determining whether the Blackhawks will be able to bounce back in 2018-2019.
The problem: Nobody really knows where Crawford is recovering from what the team will call an "upper body injury". Before the NHL Entry Draft last week, the Blackhawks reported on Crawford, which was really not the case. Not a lot of updates at all.
This is Chief Executive Stan Bowman in a conference call with reporters, via the Chicago Sun Times:
"What I said at the end of the year is still the case now, we expect Corey to be back," Bowman said at a preliminary conference call with media. "We have no reason to think that it will not happen."
"All players are gearing up for next season, Corey is in this same mode of preparation … nothing has changed."
Bowman has all said that the Blackhawks were waiting for him to be available for the start of the training camp in a few months. Until Crawford is back on the ice and he fires into the net of the Blackhawks, the whole situation will remain a mystery. And even when – if? – It may be that the Blackhawks are probably on the market for some sort of backup or insurance because the quintet of players that they used last season was obviously not good enough.
[Related: PHT Power Rankings: The top-20 NHL Free Agents]
The question, of course, is where they go to find this insurance policy.
Athletic's Scott Powers reported this week that the Blackhawks have reached out to Jonathan Bernier, Carter Hutton and Cam Ward, while Pierre LeBrun of TSN has mentioned that Ward could be a "strong" possibility land in Chicago on July 1st.
Jay Zawaski of 670 The Score also reported that an agreement can already be in progress.
The problem, if you are a fan of the Blackhawks, is that Ward has not been very good for most of the past six years.
Another way of saying it is that Ward has been one of the least productive goalkeepers in the NHL.
Just consider that since the beginning of the 2012-2013 season, there have been 59 goaltenders who have played in at least 100 NHL games.
The .906 save percentage of Cam Ward during this period links him to the league's worst score with Mike Condon, Anders Nilsson and Ben Scrivens.
His .913 save percentage in equal strength situations puts him back on par with Condon.
On the one hand, the argument could be that Ward has spent most of his time playing behind a team that has not been very successful and that joining the Blackhawks could help him. But in recent years, the Hurricanes have been one of the NHL's best law enforcement teams (the Blackhawks have become mediocre in recent years) and have not had to deal with a charge of extremely heavy work. There is strong argument to the effect that the goalkeeper is one of the main reasons why the team has not had more success on the rink, Ward being the main goalkeeper for most of this race. He is also 34 years old and will be 35 in February, which is not exactly a golden age for goalies, especially those who do not have the habit of play constantly.
The other options of free agent potential are much more attractive.
On Wednesday, our Joey Alfieri claimed that Robin Lehner, who had not extended a Buffalo Sabers qualifier, would make a lot of sense for the Detroit Red Wings. I would say that it would probably be an ideal fit in Chicago. It's coming out of a year down in Buffalo – who was not there? – but had a lot of success in the previous two years while he was playing behind a team that was mostly awful. He's not a star by any means, but he could have the best potential of any of the free agents available.
Bernier is also an intriguing option because you know exactly what you are going to get, and in a perfect world, that's exactly what the Blackhawks might need – a solid backup, able to fill for a long time if the Crawford's situation remains what he is.
Of the same goalie sampling mentioned above with Ward, Bernier is ranked 30th and 25th in percentage of economy and percentage of stops of this group. In other words, it will not steal a lot of games, but it will probably not lose you a lot of games either.
Even that would be a mbadive improvement over what the Blackhawks used to net a season ago. It would also be a much more intriguing option than Cam Ward, who will soon be 35 years old.
More free NHL agency:
• Ilya Kovalchuk, Kings accept conditions on a three-year agreement
• John Carlson receives $ 64 million salary while Capitals lock up defender
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line to [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.
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