After an exciting trade deadline period, general manager Stan Bowman and the Chicago Blackhawks will enter the home stretch of the season without the assistance of Ryan Hartman, Tommy Wingels and Michal Kempny.
While talent did leave the Blackhawks, the team will be looking to improve this offseason with more cap room than it has had in a long time and eight draft picks in July, including two first-round picks.
While there is some reason to have optimism with the young players who make up the Blackhawks’ current roster, as well with talent in Rockford and in college coming up to play the rest of the season and a number of prospects who will be added to the organization in the draft, there is still a lot of work and progress that will need to be made in Chicago to change the franchise from a non-playoff team to a Stanley Cup contender.