After a disappointing first round exit to the St. Louis Blues in 2015-16, the Chicago Blackhawks returned with a vengeance, storming their way to first place in the Western Conference, and once again being one of the Cup favourites in the playoffs.

They then proceeded to get sweep in the first round, limited to only three goals, including none at home. So, long story short, they choked. I don’t care if the analytics said they weren’t guaranteed to beat Nashville like every MSM said they would, just accept and enjoy the narrative of Chicago Blackhawks: Chokers. Savour it.

Anyway, they come into this offseason like every other offseason for the last 7-8 years: in cap hell. It’ll take more of Stan Bowman’s magic, or the stupidity of other GM’s, whatever you want to call it, to get them out of this pickle, before they are doomed to mediocrity for eternity…or at least until their core’s contracts are up.

You can’t look at their roster without first acknowledging their three players who are the TOP 100 IN ALL OF NHL HISTORY, that being Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Duncan Keith. Ignore the fact that Toews only has one 70 point season, Kane only has three 30 goal seasons, and Keith has nearly 100 fewer points than Zdeno Chara, these players are some of the best of all time. Not because of skill, but because of LEADERSHIP and CUPZ.

But, in all seriousness, they are really good players. Kane has emerged as a scoring threat the past couple years, rising just as much as his likeability has dropped, with an 89 point season this year. Toews is the antithesis, in that his skill has dropped as his likeability has risen, as he only put up 58 points. Keith continues to put up points with 53 of them this season, while his defensive play has yet to drop off yet.

As for the rest of the core, Marian Hossa is showing his age, with only a 45 point season, although 26 of them are goals (with a 15.6% shooting percentage), although he’s still solid defensively. Brent Seabrook is still solid offensively as well, with 39 points (although 15 of them are power play points), although his defensive play has REALLY dropped off. Niklas Hjalmarsson is one of the few core players not in decline, as he continues to be one of the best defensive defensemen in the league, which means TRADE HIM.

The newer pieces to the core in Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov have emerged as scoring threats on Kane’s line. After a Calder winning rookie season, Panarin put up 74 points this season, while Ansimov benefited from it with 45 points on the year.

The Blackhawks relied a lot on young players from the minors to help out the scoring, and they got a couple helping hands, including a 44 point season from Richard Panik, a 31 point season from Ryan Hartman, and a 28 point season from Nick Schmaltz.

Meanwhile in net, Corey Crawford has become one of the league’s better goalies (ironically as the Hawk’s have gotten worse), and is sometimes the reason why they survive some games with a .918% save percentage. Scott Darling was an excellent backup with a .924% save percentage, but with his contract being up, he was traded to the Hurricanes.