Arizona Coyotes Hunting For Points Against Blackhawks

AT: What kind of strategy do you feel Stan Bowman and the Hawks will use when preparing for the expansion draft? Who do you think will be taken by Vegas or will the Hawks make some proactive moves heading into the trade deadline to save players like Trevor van Riemsdyk and/or Marcus Kruger?

GB: As previously mentioned, The Blackhawks need all the forwards they can keep as there is simply no depth to this team. As long as Ryan Hartman isn’t packaged in a deal at the trade deadline, I would say he should be protected this year. I don’t believe the Blackhawks will choose to protect Marcus Kruger. Although Kruger is a solid defensive forward, he simply lacks the scoring touch and has a cap hit that ‘Hawks can’t afford to keep. With Artemi Panarin signing his big extension, Chicago will be looking to shed as much salary as possible. Losing Kruger just makes sense.

TVR [Trevor van Riemsdyk] is pretty hit or miss in my book. He has shown flashes of offensive ability, but has struggled in his own end as of late. I believe he may be taken in the expansion draft along with backup goaltender Scott Darling. Darls has been playing solid all year long and deserves to be the number one goaltender somewhere. The loss of Darling would be a tough pill to swallow, but Chicago just can’t afford him with the ever present salary cap problem.