Steve's Notebook: Season Opener Thoughts

If you're wondering why this wasn't sent out as a newsletter, well, that's because I'm keeping the more blog-type posts as their own thing. I'll link this out in the weekly email, but I didn't want to spam everyone's inbox with an off-the-cuff article, you know?

And I have some thoughts that I just wanted to get out. Thoughts on the Blackhawks starting lineup ahead of the season opener against the Vegas Golden Knights.

It's certainly a lot different than what we saw throughout preseason.

Jeff Blashill seems to have a lot of faith in Roman Kantserov, as he's not only starting as a center, but he's getting thrown in as the 1C. Regardless, I think watching him play with Patrick Kane is going to be a real treat. In their one preseason game together, they gave Chicago a 62.50% Corsi, a 76.65% expected goals share, and outchanced opponents 5-2 at 5-on-5. Oliver Moore on the top line is also an interesting choice. The expectation was that he'd start as a bottom six center. His speed makes him a versatile winger; however, I'd expect Kane to be the one entering the zone with possession.

Going Kantserov, Nazar, and Frondell down the middle certainly adds up to this organization's belief that they have scoring depth. But that's unproven, and those players are wildly inexperienced. I'm not confident that Anton Frondell is best suited for center. Hell, I'm not even sold that Frank Nazar is a center. From what I've seen of Frondell, he can be an exceptional forechecker if he's on the wing and not preoccupied with backchecking duties as the center. For Nazar, it's a matter of consistency, which I've beaten to death. And I'm not intentionally leaving Ryan Greene out, it's just that I think he's playing in the right role: bottom-six center.

The d-pairs are not surprising, even if I think Kevin Korchinski deserves the start over Sam Rinzel. I said as much in my latest article that Korchinski was the most steady defenseman out of the Hawks' young blueliners.

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It's going to be a test tonight as Chicago takes on a Cup favorite in the Vegas Golden Knights. While I didn't pin Vegas as a Cup finalist last year—one of the top possession-metrics-based teams in the season—they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in what probably was one of the best Stanley Cup Final series in years.

Either way, there's Blackhawks hockey tonight, and there's a lot to watch in this one.