The Hockey News season preview on the Chicago Blackhawks,

On defense is a decent group that only got better with the signing of Brian Campbell. He doesn’t produce much individual offense, but he tilts the ice anytime he’s out there and that’s something Chicago has been lacking recently. Once the preeminent puck-possession club, they’ve slipped toward average, Campbell should help right the ship.

What might keep that ship at bay though is their forward corps, specifically the bottom half of it. We all know how good Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are, and ditto for Artemi Panarin and Marian Hossa, but the other eight forwards are as weak as we’ve seen in a long time for the Blackhawks. The stars get the headlines, but this isn’t the NBA where Joel Quenneville can keep throwing out his top guys for the whole game. The bottom of the roster will play significant minutes and the team will be very vulnerable during that time.

Maybe their depth forwards surprise and turn out much better than expected. If that does happen, Chicago has the star-power to remain in the Stanley Cup conversation. But things can go off the rails quickly and it’s entirely possible they’ll be fighting for a playoff spot instead of their usual cruise to the post-season. Unless they get a lot out of their scrapped together bottom six, it’s unlikely they’ll be contending as usual this season.

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